Abstract
New media and technology are changing the museum experience in the twenty-first century. One such change is that of hybrid space in museums. A museum hybrid space combines physical artifacts co-located with virtual and augmented reality displays. Although the theory and technology exist to provide museums with hybrid space, there are few efforts to put hybrid space, particularly those that utilize commercial video games, into practice. The goal of this research is to explore how a certain type of museum hybrid space, namely, a virtual reality-enhanced environment relying on a commercial video game, can support and improve audience experiences. To reach this goal, a cognitive model is applied in the design of an experimental context that creates an exhibition-like environment for the viewer-participants. In the experiment, a virtual reality-enhanced environment is compared with two environments relying on commonly used media. Results show improvements in viewer-participants' experiences in terms of cognitive and edutainment aspects. Relying on a commercial video game, the VR-enhanced environment stimulated emotions and increased engagement in viewer-participants while helping them enjoy learning. The experimental context of this research can only approximate the full real-world experience that a museum visitor would have. However, the experimental context does provide the basic elements that a viewer would expect and associate with an exhibition, such as, objects for examination, labels, and didactic supports. Results from this research can encourage further investigations of hybrid space in other environments relying on various media types.
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Acknowledgements
The first author would like to thank Christie Hurrell and Jeremiah Baker from LabNEXT, University of Calgary. Special thanks go to the reviewers and those who participated in this research.
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Baradaran Rahimi, F., Boyd, J.E., Eiserman, J.R. et al. Museum beyond physical walls: an exploration of virtual reality-enhanced experience in an exhibition-like space. Virtual Reality 26, 1471–1488 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-022-00643-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-022-00643-5