Metaverse Experience in a Public Cultural Institution: Media Innovations and Perception of Public Sector Excellence in Museum of the Future in Dubai

Immersive and metaverse experiences provided by government-run museums as a means to increase access to culture and share institutional visions have become more common, yet there is still a lack of knowledge regarding how visitors perceive such experiences, especially in the Gulf region. The purpose of the current study was to explore the relations between metaverse experience quality, media innovation perception, and perceived public sector excellence of the visitors to the Museum of the Future in Dubai. Cross-sectional research was conducted among 386 adults who visited the museum during the period from September to November 2025; the sample was selected using convenience sampling technique in the museum lobby after visitors left. Measures adapted for this context of research were used to evaluate metaverse experience quality, media innovation perception, and public sector excellence; the collected data were then analyzed with the help of correlations, hierarchical regression, and bootstrap mediation analysis (PROCESS Model 4). High levels of metaverse experience quality (M = 3.87, SD = 0.72) positively correlated with media innovation perception (r = .64) and public sector excellence (r = .58). Controlling for demographics and virtual reality experience, the experience quality variable accounted for an additional 21.8% of variance in public sector excellence and media innovation perception mediated 62.8% of the total effect.