Gamified Immersive Museum Experience for Engineering and Design Heritage

Abstract

The recent development of immersive technologies has facilitated a new frontier for the heritage sector to digitise its exhibitions. Adaption to such technologies can increase the museum's total number of attendees as it motivates visitors with momentum to try novel experiences. This study utilised virtual reality (VR) as the main instrument to communicate Coventry’s engineering heritage. As each heritage object holds a significant value with a certain meaning, VR could serve as an instrument to communicate and interpret these stories.In addressing a critical research gap, the study explores how museum professionals interpret heritage values for visitors through the integration of gamified interactive experiences.Building on this gap, the study investigates the utilisation of gamification techniques and storytelling theories within immersive experiences to provide meaningful interpretations of museum-displayed objects.This study developed a communication model based on the mathematical theory of Shannon–Weaver to enhance the communication process in virtual environments between the visitorsand the heritage object. Three VR experiments were developed to investigate the level of immersion, interaction, and learning from the visitors’ perspectives while engaging with the subject matter. Specifically, visitors' learning involves their ability to remember and recall information about heritage objects. By using immersive technology as an instrumental solution, the research seeks to enhance visitor experiences and offer meaningful interpretations, aligning with the demands of diverse visitors.While several scholars argue that the utilisation of virtual reality could improve the experience, certain conditions should be considered to facilitate higher engagement with the virtual content. In the study, storytelling and gamification strategies were applied to enhance the total level of engagement while being inside the virtual environments. The embedding of such elements resonates with the participants’ motivation during the interaction in the level by following the experiment structure resulting in a sequence of flow towards approaching the intended destination in the game.The initial research strategy employed in this investigation encompassed the adoption of an experimental design, while mixed methods approaches were used to evaluate the participants' data using surveys and semi-structured interviews. Overall, 96 participants were recruited from 19the public. In the study, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to identify significant differences among the sampled groups. In particular, the results indicate a significant difference between the dependent variables across the scenarios. The findings comprise substantial benefits for museum institutions on how to improve content contextualisation by following the proposed VR communication framework. Furthermore, the study includes suggestions that encompass a rising awareness about the chosen VR equipment used for interpretation. In addition, the study proposes recommendations and guidelines to reduce motion sickness when utilising VR in public spaces

Date of Award	Mar 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Coventry University Deakin University
Supervisor	Sylvester Arnab (Supervisor) & Kaja Antlej (Supervisor)