Smart Access to the Past: Studying Digital Applications for Interaction with Cultural Heritage

Abstract

The last decades witnessed an amalgamation between cultural heritage practises and digital technology, resulting in a new heritage experience. The presented research addresses the problem of lacking in specific guidelines or frameworks for generating efficient and memorable experiences for heritage sites using digital technologies (like VR and AR). Subsequently, it investigates the preservation of heritage and its impacts on different users. The study answers two main questions: How do new immersive technologies enhance the efficiency and attractiveness of experiencing cultural heritage sites? And how does new technological integration with heritage sites communicate the cultural significance of tangible and intangible heritage? In doing so, the study focuses on theoretical and empirical aspects of users’ engagement in digital heritage applications by investigating the impact of a virtual tour of the cultural heritage site of Abu Simbel Temple in Aswan, Egypt. The results of the literature investigation and the empirical experiment resulted in the development of a conceptual model for generating an interactive digital experience for heritage sites to facilitate the analysis and evaluation of the presented digital projects.