Abstract
Recent technological advancements in immersive reality technologies have become a focus area in the virtual heritage (VH) domain. In this regard, this paper attempts to design and implement clouds-based collaborative and multi-modal MR application aiming at enhancing cultural learning in VH. The design and implementation can be adopted by the VH domain for various application themes. The application utilises cloud computing and immersive reality technologies. The use of cloud computing, collaborative, and multi-modal interaction methods is influenced by the following three issues. First, studies show that users’ interaction with immersive reality technologies and virtual environments determines their learning outcome and the overall experience. Second, studies also demonstrate that collaborative and multi-modal interaction methods enable engagement in immersive reality environments. Third, the integration of immersive reality technologies with traditional museums and cultural heritage sites is getting significant attention in the domain. However, a robust approach, development platforms (frameworks) and easily adopted design and implementation approaches, or guidelines are not commonly available to the VH community. This paper, therefore, will attempt to achieve two major goals. First, it attempts to design and implement a novel application that integrates cloud computing, immersive reality technology and VH. Second, it attempts to apply the proposed application to enhance cultural learning. From the perspective of cultural learning and users’ experience, the assumption is that the proposed approach (clouds-based collaborative and multi-modal MR) can enhance cultural learning by (1) establishing a contextual relationship and engagement between users, virtual environments and cultural context in museums and heritage sites, and (2) by enabling collaboration between users.
Highlights
Interactive digital technologies, alongside various interpretive multimedia approaches, have recently become a common appearance in traditional museums and cultural heritage sites
From the perspective of cultural learning and users’ experience, the assumption is that the proposed approach can enhance cultural learning by (1) establishing a contextual relationship and engagement between users, virtual environments and cultural context in museums and heritage sites, and (2) by enabling collaboration between users
Studies have shown that collaboration, interaction, engagement, and contextual relationship are the key aspects to determine the effectiveness of virtual reality applications from a cultural learning perspective [1,2,3,4,5]
Summary
Interactive digital technologies, alongside various interpretive multimedia approaches, have recently become a common appearance in traditional museums and cultural heritage sites. The interaction method proposed in this paper, attempts to bring collaborative and multi-modal MR to museums and heritage sites so that users will be able to interact with virtual content at the natural location of the heritage assets that are partially or fully represented in the virtual environment. The proposed application is motivated by: (1) cloud computing technology’s ability for fast development/deployment and elasticity of resources and services [9], (2) the ability of collaborative and multi-modal interaction methods to enhance cultural learning in VH as demonstrated by the domain’s existing studies, for instance [10], and (3) the continuous improvement of natural interaction modalities and MR devices.
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