TY - JOUR
T1 - A Virtual Tour of a Hardly Accessible Archaeological Site
T2 - The Effect of Immersive Virtual Reality on User Experience, Learning and Attitude Change
AU - Kyrlitsias, Christos
AU - Christofi, Maria
AU - Michael-Grigoriou, Despina
AU - Banakou, Domna
AU - Ioannou, Andri
N1 - Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 739578 and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for European Programmes, Coordination and Development.
Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge Zoe Anastasiadou, Maria Michaelidou, Ioanna Papamichael, and Katerina Pieri, students of the course MGA444: Virtual Reality of the Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts of the Cyprus University of Technology for sharing with us the original version of the Choirokoitia VR Application, which was developed under the supervision of the course's instructor, DM-G. We would also like to thank Christos Hadjipanayi and Maria Matsangidou, research associates with the Research Centre on Interactive Media Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies for proofreading and partially reviewing some sections of the article, respectively. Funding. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 739578 and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for European Programmes, Coordination and Development.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Kyrlitsias, Christofi, Michael-Grigoriou, Banakou and Ioannou.
PY - 2020/8/7
Y1 - 2020/8/7
N2 - Some archaeological sites are not easily accessible by visitors due to mobility or geographical restrictions. Digital technology can make such sites virtually accessible and provide educational information at the same time. Toward this goal, we created a digital reconstruction of the archaeological site of Choirokoitia. Given that a 3D digital reconstruction can be used along with different technologies, we designed and developed an interactive application, where users can navigate and get information about the site, for two different systems: Virtual Reality (VR) systems and desktop computers. A feasibility study was conducted where we compared aspects of the two systems so as to allow the suggestion of the proper technology to utilize according to a user's aims. The results showed higher levels of presence and more positive experience by the participants who used the VR system compared to those who used the desktop version. On the other hand, greater learning gains were demonstrated in participants who used the desktop version compared to those who used the VR version. No differences were shown between the two groups regarding the participants' change of attitudes toward the archaeology of Cyprus.
AB - Some archaeological sites are not easily accessible by visitors due to mobility or geographical restrictions. Digital technology can make such sites virtually accessible and provide educational information at the same time. Toward this goal, we created a digital reconstruction of the archaeological site of Choirokoitia. Given that a 3D digital reconstruction can be used along with different technologies, we designed and developed an interactive application, where users can navigate and get information about the site, for two different systems: Virtual Reality (VR) systems and desktop computers. A feasibility study was conducted where we compared aspects of the two systems so as to allow the suggestion of the proper technology to utilize according to a user's aims. The results showed higher levels of presence and more positive experience by the participants who used the VR system compared to those who used the desktop version. On the other hand, greater learning gains were demonstrated in participants who used the desktop version compared to those who used the VR version. No differences were shown between the two groups regarding the participants' change of attitudes toward the archaeology of Cyprus.
KW - attitude change
KW - cultural heritage
KW - immersion
KW - learning
KW - user experience
KW - virtual reality
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U2 - 10.3389/fcomp.2020.00023
DO - 10.3389/fcomp.2020.00023
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85117940716
SN - 2624-9898
VL - 2
JO - Frontiers in Computer Science
JF - Frontiers in Computer Science
M1 - 23
ER -