Integrating restoration and interactive exploration to enhance cultural heritage through VR storytelling

Abstract

Redtory was transformed from an old industrial site into a creative park in Guangzhou. Unfortunately, it was demolished in May 2019. It holds a dual significance, representing both Guangzhou’s old industrial era and its first creative park (Art and Design). The objective of this study was to utilize Virtual Reality (VR) technologies to design an immersive environment with a narrative experience and restore the historical memory of Redtory. The project designs the interactive storytelling tour based on Bartle’s taxonomy theory. The VR project includes four primary scenes to tell the Redtory’s story: Starting Scene, Factory Buildings, Historical Square, and Creative Corridor. The study designs various interactive elements to engage tourists during exploration. The study conducted user tests to evaluate the system. A comparative experiment (N = 40) is conducted to evaluate the overall performance of the VR platform. The results indicate that the platform provides a smooth storytelling experience during the virtual tour with minimal bugs or disruptions. The project provides valuable user data and a design flow as a case study reference to contribute to the field of VR historical education.