A framework for designing Mixed Reality situated learning experiences in cultural heritage sites using AR glasses

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Walking through a cultural heritage site is an immersive educative experience. The physical space itself and the artefacts that are laid out in it tell many stories of the place's history through audio guides, labels, videos, and interactive touch screens. However, the site remains a static display, which is only revived through the imagination of those who visit it through the things they learn about it. Past research has shown that immersive Mixed Reality (MR) technologies such as mobile Augmented Reality (AR) have the potential to bridge the gap between the past and the present during the visitors' walkthrough, and enhance their learning experience. However, mobile AR relies on handheld devices, poor tracking quality of the user, and the digital content is only superficially super-imposed on the physical world not interacting with the physical objects in a realistic way. AR glass technology, also called direct AR, has the potential to break these barriers and provide significantly increased immersion and a plethora of interaction mechanisms to the visitors, both of which can considerably enhance their learning experience. The proposed fellowship seeks to explore a design framework for developing engaging, situated learning experiences in cultural heritage places for teenage and adult visitors (in the 12+ age group) with the use of AR glasses. AR glasses are a pair of wearable glasses with the ability to extend the visible physical space using superimposed digital content, including holograms, which is so well positioned that it blends successfully with the physical surroundings. They are an emerging MR technology, which has not yet been adequately researched within the context of cultural heritage education. In collaboration with professionals from heritage education, design, and MR development the project will explore the challenges and opportunities in relation to the use, adoption of and engagement with the AR glasses by visitors of diverse demographics. It will then seek to understand what is lost, gained, transformed, and confused in the visitor's learning experience during the transition from a simple to an augmented walkthrough, and build a design framework based on these insights. The research outputs will highlight implications for future design approaches for MR experiences within the heritage context. The research will demonstrate in what ways AR glasses increase the immersion as opposed to other MR technologies, and explore their educational challenges and opportunities to create compelling educative MR walkthroughs of a heritage site. Accordingly, the programme of research will investigate the type of MR content that can be built upon the physical and educational capabilities of the device. The collaboration has the potential to promote good practices in using emerging technologies, create value for the cultural organisation that will facilitate its design and the MR developer company that will develop it, and highlight emerging skills in the MR sector. The proposed fellowship comprises a 3-month period of preliminary research, which will bring heritage professionals, particularly educators, and MR developers together to identify the current landscape in terms of educational experiences using immersive technologies for visitors of the specific age group, discuss how MR can engage visitors through meaningful educational interactions, and create a document of considerations. The MR developers will then use this document to design the content for the MR application. This will be followed by a 3-month period of carrying out user evaluation with the public, iteratively adjusting the MR content based on the received feedback. Finally, a 3-month period of reflection, writing, and dissemination will produce a document introducing the design framework, a Mixed Reality application, two journal articles, one conference paper, a website, and a symposium.