Individual Visitors Research Articles

A Child's-Eye View: An Examination of Point-of-View Camera Use in Four Informal Education Settings

ABSTRACTA point-of-view (POV) camera is a video recording device attached to the person of a research participant. The cameras collect observational data from the individual wearing them and those in close proximity. The cameras can be used to collect data that provide researchers with an immersive view of visitor experience by documenting visits from the perspective of the individual. The purpose of this article is to outline the benefits and weaknesses of using POV cameras for answering broad visitor studies research questions, compare their use to other common methods for visitor studies research, and examine their use within four informal educational settings—a zoo, a museum exhibit, a bus tour, and an afterschool program. In particular, the POV cameras are useful for capturing data beyond a single exhibit, recording the dialogue and gestures of individual visitors, and documenting interactions among group members. POV cameras may be especially useful for answering questions about hands-on activities such as building or tinkering. Limitations that should be considered when attempting to use POV cameras include participants tampering with the recording, the inability to see facial expressions, and the limited angle of captured video. Care should also be taken to minimize the discomfort of visitors in studies utilizing POV cameras.

Economic Valuation of Cultural Contents in Rural Village Using Contingent Valuation Method

본 연구는 경상남도 양산시 대석 물안뜰 농촌전통테마마을에서 실시하고 있는 마을단위의 문화자산인 ‘상여소리와 행상’을 대상으로, 모수/비모수의 두 가지 추정법에 근거한 가상가치평가법(CVM)을 활용하여 마을단위 문화자산의 경제적 가치를 측정하였다. 본 연구의 주요 결과는 첫째, 제시가격이 높을수록 ‘상여소리와 행상’ 행사가 지닌 가치에 대한 응답자의 지불의사금액이 감소하는 것으로 나타났다. 즉, ‘상여소리와 행상’의 경제적 가치를 추정하기 위한 분석 모형에서 제시가격에 대한 계수 부호가 (-)로 나타났으며, 이러한 결과는 본 연구의 가상시장 설정이 이론적으로 유효성을 견지하고 있음을 보여주고 있다는 것을 의미한다. 둘째, 로짓모형을 활용한 모수 추정법에 의한 ‘상여소리와 행상’ 행사에 대한 지불의사금액(WTP)은 방문객 1인당 1회 관람료로 6,245원으로, 비모수 추정법에 의한 평균 지불의사금액(WTP)은 5,556원으로 각각 추정되었다. 경제적 가치 추정에 있어 모수/비모수 추정법을 활용하여 균형적인 시각으로 보다 정확한 지불의사금액(WTP) 추정을 시도했다는 점에서 본 연구는 의의를 지니고 있다. 더불어, 본 연구에 의해 도출된결과는 양산 물안뜰 농촌전통테마마을의 고장 문화자산을 보존하기 위한 지방정부의 직접 지원, 보조금 결정, 그리고 입장료 결정 등 의사결정과 관련해서 유용한 정보로 활용될 수 있을 것이다.The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic value of rural cultural contents which is carrying a coffin with a bier-carriers’ song in Yangsan Mulanddeul Village(Chungcheongnam-do Rural Theme Village). For achieving the purpose, contingent valuation method(CVM) which has been known as one of the practical methods in the field of environmental economics was to used and applied a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method(DB-DC CVM). For this research, The question is about how much has the respondents willingness-to-pay(WTP) for preserving and maintaining carrying a coffin with a bier-carriers’ song and economic value measurement scenario was designed. The survey interviews were conducted by personal interview method on November 7, 2015 with festival attendees as respondents and 148 surveys used in the analysis. To estimate willingness-to-pay(WTP), logit model and non-parametric approach is adopted. The results of this study was summarized as: firstly, the individual visitor’s WTPMean was 6,245 won while WTPMedian was 5,525 won using the logit model. secondly, and the ndividual visitor’s WTPMean was 5,556 won while WTPMedian was 3,750 won using the non-parametric approach. In addition, the implications of the results were discussed in the conclusion.

Analysis of the results of survey conducted among visitors to the National museum Valjevo in August 2016

The initial aim of this paper is to present an analysis of the survey conducted among visitors to the central permanent exhibition of the National Museum Valjevo. The analysis relates to the visitors' origin, reasons for coming to Valjevo and the Museum, their prior knowledge of the Museum, their experience and satisfaction. The survey was conducted in the period from 27 July to 26 August 2016, during which the Museum was visited by 417 people, 96 of which were from Valjevo, 6 from its surroundings (Kolubara County), 204 from other cities in Serbia and 111 from abroad. The analyses were supported by a kind of historical review based on archival documents from the records of visits to older exhibitions, so that the paper also presented a comparative cross­section of the total year­round visits in 1961 and 2016, with emphasis on the visits in August. The comparative results show that the total number of visits in 2016 was significantly higher than in 1961 (23,495 to 13,020) but lower when looking at the percentage of visitors compared to the number of city residents (39.8% to 45.7%). The increase of overall visits in 2016 was created by school trips, since at present, during the four months of the school trips, 19,690 visitors to the Valjevo Museum were registered in 2016 comprising for 83.8% of total annual visits, while in 1961 there were 7,401 (56.8%). The data obtained in comparative analyses suggest that today local population visit their Museum in much smaller numbers and percentages than they did a little over half a century ago, so that an absolute majority of visits are made by visitors from other places, especially those who came organized in groups, to whom a visit to the Museum was one of the points of their pre­planned itinerary, as well as individual visitors who in most cases have already had some previous knowledge of the Museum and intended to visit it during their visit to Valjevo. In order to increase the interest of the local population in their Museum, it is of the utmost importance to have varied, short­lasting programmes, primarily thematic exhibitions but also other types of programme activities: workshops, lectures, presentations, chamber theatre, music and film festivals and the like, while, when it comes to permanent exhibitions, various occasional animation programmes are crucial, as they breathe new life into the unchanging content. While such activities include the Long Night of Museums, it is also necessary to consider the need to organise similar events not only in May, when the Museum witnesses the largest attendance as a result of the school season excursions, but also in the months when the interest in the Museum offer fades.

Rendering website traffic data into interactive taste graph visualizations

<p>We present a method by which to convert a large corpus of website traffic data into interactive and practical taste graph visualizations. The website traffic data lists individual visitors' level of interest in specific pages across the website; it is a tripartite list consisting of anonymized visitor ID, webpage ID, and a score that quantifies interest level. Taste graph visualizations reveal psychological profiles by revealing connections between consumer tastes; for example, an individual with a taste for A may be also have a taste for B. We describe here the method by which we map the web traffic data into a form that can be displayed as interactive taste graphs, and we describe design strategies for communicating the revealed information. In the context of the publishing industry, this interactive visualization is a tool that renders the large corpus of website traffic data into a form that is actionable for marketers and advertising professionals. It could equally be used as a method to personalize services in the domains of government services, education or health and wellness.</p>

One country, two strata: Implications of social and cultural conflicts of Chinese outbound tourism to Hong Kong

The introduction of the Individual Visitor Scheme (IVS) in 2003 has been regarded as a pivotal milestone of tourism development in Hong Kong. Introduced with the policy aim of invigorating the ailing local economy suffering from the impacts of an epidemic, the IVS has also sparked exponential rise of Chinese outbound tourists to Hong Kong, and has been assuming growing significance in local tourism development. Notwithstanding the benefits that the tourism industry, as well as Hong Kong as a destination at large, can gain from the IVS, there have also been a number of controversies over the negative social impacts brought about by the IVS that have recently been widely exposed in the mass media, leading to calls for the reform and even the rescinding of the IVS. This spotlight examines the social and culture conflicts of the IVS through the integration of key attributes that are conceptualized and established in general tourism social impacts studies, as well as the unique economic, social and cultural contexts of the IVS.

A show cave management: Anthropogenic CO2 in atmosphere of Výpustek Cave (Moravian Karst, Czech Republic)

Anthropogenic impact on CO2 levels was studied in the Bear Chamber of the Výpustek Cave, a show cave in the Moravian Karst (Czech Republic), during a period of active ventilation and enhanced attendance. The study showed that the natural CO2 levels were controlled by (i) the natural CO2 influxes from soils/epikarst (up to ∼5.64×10−2mols−1); and, (ii) the advective CO2 fluxes out of cave atmosphere (up to 4.66×10−2mols−1). During visitor presence, the anthropogenic CO2 flux into the chamber reached up to ∼0.13mols−1 and exceeded all other CO2 fluxes. The reachable anthropogenic steady states at sufficient duration of stay (up to 2.65×10−1molm−3) could exceed the natural CO2 levels by factor of more than nine based on the number of visitors. Recession analysis of anthropogenic pulses showed that intervals between individual visitor groups would have to be up to ∼6h long if the cave environment has to return to natural conditions. As such pauses between individual tours are hardly realizable, a risk analysis was conducted to find the consequences of breaking natural conditions. It showed that the condition under which dripwater becomes aggressive to calcite (i.e., the point when PCO2 in cave atmosphere exceeds the hypothetical CO2 concentrations in epikarst that has participated on the water formation, PCO2(H)=10−1.56) is potentially reachable under extreme conditions only (enormous visitor stay period and visitor number). In case of condensed water, however, any increase in CO2 concentration will cause an increase of water aggressiveness to calcite. Therefore, in the periods and sites of enhanced condensation, it is important to strive for preservation of natural conditions.

Applying Fuzzy Logic of Expert Knowledge for Accurate Predictive Algorithms of Customer Traffic Flows in Theme Parks

This study analyzes two forecasting models based on the application of fuzzy logic and evaluates their effectiveness in predicting visitor expenditure and length of stay at a popular theme park. The forecasting models are based on a set of more than 600 decision rules constructed in the form of a complex series of IF-THEN statements. These algorithms store expert knowledge. A descriptive instrument that records the individual visitor’s time spent and expenditure distribution on activities in the E-Da World in Taiwan was used to gather data. From a process of rigorous verification, the models developed are characterized by a high level of accuracy and efficiency.

From Science to Policy and Society: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Communication

Dissemination is now acknowledged as an important component of the research process, in particular for European Union (EU) funded research projects. This article builds on the authors’ experience during the EU project DEVOTES (DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understanding marine biodiversity and assessing good Environmental Status) and aims to assist other scientists to develop a successful dissemination strategy to communicate project achievements. We provide a critical review of the different tools used for outreach to our target audiences, from the academia to the policy makers, and the general public, and try to assess their impact. An effective dissemination strategy and plan should have a clear objective, be designed before the start of the project, identify the target groups and define the methods or tools to be used according to target groups and objectives. The DEVOTES dissemination strategy included two complementary approaches of communication with stakeholders: (i) traditional (e.g. peer reviewed publications, stakeholders workshops and participation in scientific conferences), and (ii) new (e.g. social networks, smartphone applications) media tools. For each dissemination approach, we defined production targets (e.g. number of articles to be published, individual visitors on the website, etc.) to be achieved by the end of the project, and impact measurements (e.g., citation indices for peer reviewed articles) to monitor the successful implementation of DEVOTES Dissemination. This allowed us to identify which tools had been more (e.g. website) or less useful and relevant (e.g. Facebook) during the project. We conclude that impact measurements cannot be easily identified for all dissemination actions. However, for those that were possible, the DEVOTES dissemination targets were successfully achieved. Overall, the use of the tools and activities outlined in this article, combined with the constant evaluation of the dissemination goals throughout the project duration and the assessment of the effectiveness of the different tools, is essential for the achievement of an effective and timely communication of research results.

Discourses of Place: Environmental Interpretation about Vermont Forests

ABSTRACTMotivated by a lack of scholarly attention to the substance of interpretive messages and materials, this study examines discursive aspects of interpretative brochures available at forest recreation and tourism sites in Vermont, United States. Directive statements that instruct and guide visitor experiences—and the discourses to which they contribute—were analyzed for content, form, and meaning. Across the interpretive brochures, four broad discourses were identified: the natural forest, the recreational forest, the productive forest, and the dependent forest. Consideration of intertextuality revealed a fifth, hybrid discourse that linked forests to meanings of Vermont as a distinctive place. The convergence of these discourses across the set of brochures gives insight into the ways interpretation serves to both direct individual visitor experiences at particular sites, and to influence the development of larger-scale place meanings.

A case of public pedagogy in Icelandic museums

In this article, we present an illustrative case of public pedagogy in an Icelandic museum. The museum utilised social movement learning to present the recent event and responses to the financial collapse in Iceland beginning in 2008. We illustrate how a small regional museum disrupted cultural and institutional norms to challenge visitors, local community officials and other museums in Iceland through the exhibition, Shut Up and Be Quiet. We argue that museum practices, shaped by adult learning theory, can offer socially meaningful museum encounters that influence the individual visitors, the larger museum community and the society in which the museum operates.

테마파크 공간의 시지각적 특성에 따른 보행동선 분석

This study analyzed pedestrian circulation using a Visibility Graph Analysis(VGA) model to determine movement characteristics of visitors in a theme park. Since the location of a theme park is a key factor for stimulating consumption, it is important to identify how visitors visually perceive their spatial experience while walking throughout the park. We, first, viewed and analyzed pedestrian circulation according to the visual perspectives of individual visitors in order to find alternatives to improve the pedestrian circulation system. A VGA model was used to quantitatively analyze an isovist and forecast pedestrian movement patterns based on output indicators. A Depth map program was used to analyze the visibility of a site. The result of calculating global measures and local measures using a VGA model revealed that pedestrian movement became more vitalized in a place where visitors’ could easily perceive things visually. Secondly, the main plaza was the place in which the concentration and separation of visitors happened simultaneously in a theme park, and thus it had an affect on the control pedestrian movement. Finally, the type of experience program is different according to the visitors’ visibility characteristics. This study will contribute to the establishment of alternatives for improving the quality of spatial experience that visitors perceive in a theme park.

Curating in the Postdigital Age

Curating in the Postdigital Age

A case study of anthropogenic impact on the CO2 levels in low-volume profile of the Balcarka Cave (Moravian Karst, Czech Republic)

Anthropogenic impact on CO2 levels was studied in the low-volume chamber connected with the low-profile corridor in Balcarka Cave, the show cave in Moravian Karst, during the period of limited ventilation. Modeling showed that the natural CO2 levels were controlled by the CO2 fluxes (up to ~ 3.14 × 10-2 mol s-1) from adjacent spaces. These fluxes changed with cave airflows and ventilation modes. Two main components of anthropogenic impact were recognized: (1) visitor breathing and (2) visitor movement. The CO2 input derived from individual visitor groups varied from 1.96 × 10-4 to 2.45 × 10-3 mol s-1, which was the significant part of the CO2 fluxes from adjacent spaces. The visitor movement induced the airflows up to 0.2 m3 s-1. They exceeded the natural airflows (up to 3.2 × 10-3 m3 s-1) by factor of more than 60. These airflows caused cave ventilation mode’s switching and, significant drop of CO2 fluxes/levels due to changed ventilation. The study therefore indicates that various anthropogenic influences in show cave can balance and neutralize each other, in dependence on cave morphology and seasonal conditions.

The Value of Educators “on the Floor”: Comparing Three Modes of Presenting Science On a Sphere®

Exhibit experiences at most museums are designed to be self-guided rather than facilitated; and it's certainly a good goal to make exhibit interpretation clear enough to be understood on one's own. The primary rationale for not staffing exhibits is the ongoing personnel cost, but that should be weighed against the value of “on the floor” staffing in terms of visitor experience. This study at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) investigated three modes of presenting a Science On a Sphere exhibit: staff-presented “shows” (18–20 minutes at scheduled times, scripted, audience on benches); staff “facilitating” with individual visitor groups; and visitors looking at the Sphere on their own, called “auto-run.” The findings of this study underscore the appeal of staffing to visitors as well as the educational benefits; however, each mode had advantages and disadvantages.

The Centre of the Universe: Shaykh Nazim and His Murids in Lefke, Cyprus

This article presents and analyses the environment around Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani (1922-2014) in Lefke, Cyprus. The Shaykh was leader of a branch of the Naqshbandiyya between 1973 and 2014. His murids have viewed their visits to the Shaykh’s home as spiritual highlights. Some have moved there permanently. Based on ethnographic material collected during four visits to Lefke between 2008 and 2014, as well as material distributed online by Shaykh Nazim’s murids, this article discusses developments affecting the Shaykh and his murids in Lefke. Topics discussed include the Shaykh’s decreasing physical condition, the narratives of individual visitors, and visits by prominent international guests, as well as the Shaykh’s death and its immediate aftermath, including the contested issue of leadership in the tariqa. The article concludes with a reflection on Sufi saintly authority in the contemporary world.

Selected Examples of Interactive Teaching Methods in the Centre of Geoeducation in the City of Kielce (Poland)

Abstract The article presents the educational activity of the Centre of Geoeducation in the City of Kielce (Poland). The Centre was established in 2012 and thanks to a variety of provided services, it quickly gained a wide audience. By drawing inspiration from a very rich geological assets of the whole Świetokrzyskie Province, the Centre transmits geological, ecological and geographical knowledge, mainly with the use of many interactive teaching methods. The Centre's educational offer involves various activities, i.e. theoretical, practical and field classes. What is more, the Centre of Geoeducation acts as an initiator and coordinator of many cyclical or occasional events which promote geological assets of the Świetokrzyskie Province. The growing number of visits provides evidence for a wide interest of the Centre's activity – in 2013, there were up to 6.2% more visitors than in the previous year. It is worth mentioning that the Centre of Geoeducation is visited not only by organised groups, but also by individual visitors coming from the Province and the whole country, as well as from abroad.

Visuality and Its Affects: Some New Directions for Australian Heritage Tourism

This review emerges out of long-standing debates that seek to define Australia's responses to its colonial heritage. In particular, the review will question how ‘affect’ functions as a foundation for shared public understandings of the past and related identities at iconic Australian heritage sites. From there, it will move to explore how visitor photography can be used as (a) a means of capturing and assessing visitors' frames of reference and sensory experience; (b) recovering memories; and (c) imbuing heritage sites with meaning. None of this is easy to pin down methodologically. Indeed, given the relative ‘newness’ of theoretical talk dealing with the politics of affect in the fields of heritage and tourism, little attention to date has been channelled towards figuring out what this might mean empirically. As such, the core component of this review is an examination of the literature that has emerged around visual/performative ethnographies, particularly those that focuses on the visual as a means of capturing what bodies do. Here, a process of being ‘in place’ will be foregrounded, through which individual heritage visitors are transformed from passive viewer into active director, thereby becoming co-producers in the creation and legitimisation of both historical memories and conceptualisations of present-day Australian society.

Logistical routing of park tours with waiting times: case of Beijing Zoo

Site planning for parks consists of synthetic strategies to improve visitors’ experience and appreciation of park features. An important aspect in site planning is to coordinate visitor flows in order to avoid excessive congestion that may depreciate visiting experience. An emerging need in the coordination strategies is to personalize visiting routes and enhance the enjoyment of the tour for individual visitors. On the individual level, visitors have diverse preferences for park attractions. Scheduling a tour to visit attractions is restricted by not only the layout of park facilities but also the uncertainty of waiting induced by different lengths of lines at attractions. This paper proposes a tentative solution to optimize the logistics of individual tours by considering the dynamic nature of waiting time at park attractions derived from empirical data. The optimal solution is achieved using the branch-and-bound algorithm and is implemented in a real-world case of Beijing Zoo, a metropolitan zoology park in Beijing, China. The case study provides corroborating evidence for studying the logistical routing of park tours that: (1) visitors arriving at the park earlier can avoid crowds and excessive lines whereas visiting at midday would encounter excessive waiting and (2) the shortest tour route may not necessarily be the most efficient; strategically scheduling the visit to popular exhibits in their off-peak hours could effectively shorten overall tour time. This problem, called the Traveling Salesman Problem with Waiting Times (TSPWT) increases the realism of the routing problem while shedding new light on personalized routing strategies for improving individual touring experience.

An integrative framework for extending the boundaries of the museum visit experience: linking the pre, during and post visit phases

The Cultural Heritage experience at the museum begins before the actual on-site visit and continues with memories and reflections after the visit. In considering the potential of novel information and communication technology to enhance the entire visit experience, one scenario envisioned is extending the on-site visit boundaries, to help the visitors access information concerning exhibits that are of primary interest to them during pre-visit planning, provide relevant information to the visitors during the visit, and follow up with post visit memories and reflections. All this can be done by using today’s state of the art mobile and web-based applications, as well as any new foreseeable emerging technology. So far, research on applying novel information and communication technology in the cultural heritage domain has focused primarily on exploring specific aspects of the technology and its capability for supporting the individual visitor mainly during the physical, on-site, visit (and in some cases in additional specific phases such as prior or after the visit). This paper suggests a novel, integrative framework for supporting the pre, during and post visit phases in a personalized manner. It is based on a set of standard, common models: a visitor model, a site model and a visit model, all enable a large variety of services to store, update and reuse data during the three phases of the visit. Our contribution is presenting a framework architecture with its underlying infrastructure, and showing in a case study how this framework supports the various visit phases in an actual museum. The suggested framework is generic; it is not limited to a specific setting or scenario and it is open and can be easily adopted and used by practitioners and researchers to be implemented in different sites and settings. As such, it provides a further step in extending the cultural heritage experience beyond the on-site visit and towards linking individual episodes into complete, memorable personal experiences.

Personalized multimedia content delivery on an interactive table by passive observation of museum visitors

The amount of multimedia data collected in museum databases is growing fast, while the capacity of museums to display information to visitors is acutely limited by physical space. Museums must seek the perfect balance of information given on individual pieces in order to provide sufficient information to aid visitor understanding while maintaining sparse usage of the walls and guaranteeing high appreciation of the exhibit. Moreover, museums often target the interests of average visitors instead of the entire spectrum of different interests each individual visitor might have. Finally, visiting a museum should not be an experience contained in the physical space of the museum but a door opened onto a broader context of related artworks, authors, artistic trends, etc. In this paper we describe the MNEMOSYNE system that attempts to address these issues through a new multimedia museum experience. Based on passive observation, the system builds a profile of the artworks of interest for each visitor. These profiles of interest are then used to drive an interactive table that personalizes multimedia content delivery. The natural user interface on the interactive table uses the visitor's profile, an ontology of museum content and a recommendation system to personalize exploration of multimedia content. At the end of their visit, the visitor can take home a personalized summary of their visit on a custom mobile application. In this article we describe in detail each component of our approach as well as the first field trials of our prototype system built and deployed at our permanent exhibition space at LeMurate (http://www.lemurate.comune.fi.it/lemurate/) in Florence together with the first results of the evaluation process during the official installation in the National Museum of Bargello (http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/musei/?m=bargello).