Innovation Process Modelling for Human-Centred Cultural Heritage Spaces: Developing a Business Model Canvas for Smart Digital Immersion

Abstract

The cultural heritage sector offers an opportunity to gain an insight into the customs and traditions of previous generations and acquire an understanding of the progression of society. This discipline is important for an individual to maintain a sense of identity in the world and attain knowledge of important historical events. Cultural heritage items that are reflective of a group within society can be presented in the form of artefacts or works of art in a setting such as a museum or art gallery. Innovation is key when implementing technological solutions to continuously look towards new methods that will efficiently showcase all items as desired and preserve this content for future generations. A museum for example generally exhibits tangible and intangible heritage with the difference being the ability to physically interact with the items. Emergent digital technologies offer an opportunity to progress from the traditional user experience to an immersive and personalised control system. This opportunity has not yet been fully explored within the cultural heritage sector where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IOT) can be utilised in tandem to achieve this objective. The Business Model Canvas (BMC) was created to mitigate uncertainty regarding the operation of commercial ideas through enhanced visualisation. This paper presents a populated BMC for smart digital immersion in cultural heritage spaces and addresses the significance of an alignment with the human-centred philosophy when incorporating immersive technologies in the user journey.