Where Digital Meets Place: Deriving Strategies for Curating Mixed Reality Exhibitions in Public Spaces

Mixed Reality (MR) technologies are increasingly being used to enrich exhibitions and public spaces by blending digital content with the physical environment in real time. However, little is known about curatorial strategies for embedding MR exhibitions into public spaces or promoting audience experiences. To explore this, we designed and curated a campus-based MR art exhibition, using contextualism as the fundamental concept. We conducted an interdisciplinary expert focus group alongside exhibition viewing to identify opportunities, challenges, and design strategies from multiple perspectives. In parallel, we conducted user studies with general audiences to examine how curatorial strategies foster experiential qualities. Our findings reveal insights from both experts and general users along with strategies in curating MR exhibitions and highlight the foundational role of contextualism in curating MR art exhibitions in urban public spaces.