Do you have anything online about your VR exhibit design app? This sounds really cool!
Our team wasn't involved in the Smithsonian API portion—we really focus on the bulk access pattern, mostly via object storage (e.g. S3). That is, we see object storage / "just give me all the data" as the base of the pyramid for data access.
Purpose built APIs that add value can be consumers of data via more general access patterns. Specialized APIs can add heaps of value for a given use case, but they can also limit the breadth of applications for other use cases.
Our team wasn't involved in the Smithsonian API portion—we really focus on the bulk access pattern, mostly via object storage (e.g. S3). That is, we see object storage / "just give me all the data" as the base of the pyramid for data access.
Purpose built APIs that add value can be consumers of data via more general access patterns. Specialized APIs can add heaps of value for a given use case, but they can also limit the breadth of applications for other use cases.