Immersive Virtual Reality in Cultural Heritage Dissemination: A Comprehensive Application for Novice Users

Abstract

This paper discusses the increasing relevance of immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) technology in society and its emerging applications, particularly in Cultural Heritage (CH) dissemination. However, the diversification of iVR experiences has led to a need for an application that summarizes the most common types of experiences to familiarize novice users with iVR. To address this need, an iVR application has been developed that presents the four most common types of iVR experiences: Passive, Explorative, Explorative Interaction, and Interactive. The experience includes different reconstructed CH environments and objects showcasing the possibilities for the dissemination of CH using this technology. The application is divided into four levels, and its key design factors are as follows: 1) one type of iVR experience for each level, 2) simple interactions that become more complex as the user progresses, 3) short duration and time-limited progression between levels, 4) development for standalone iVR devices, and 5) different types of reconstructed heritage showcased at each level. The experience was tested in exhibitions and achieved high performance on standalone iVR devices. Usability results are expected to be achieved in the future.