Virtual museum system evaluation through user studies

Abstract Virtual museum (VM) systems are a very effective solution for the communication of cultural contents, thanks to their playful and educational approach. In fact, these appealing technological systems have demonstrated their usefulness and value in science centres and traditional museums all over the world, thanks to the fact that visitors can view digitized artworks and explore reconstructed historical places by means of VM-hosted installations. This paper presents a methodology, based on user studies, for the comparative evaluation of different design alternatives related to the user interaction with VM systems. The methodology has been validated by means of a testbed related to a VM system hosted at the “Museum of the Bruttians and the Sea” of Cetraro (Italy). The results of the user study demonstrate that this methodology can be effectively adopted in the development process of VM systems to optimize its outcomes in terms of usability and potential for entertainment and education.

[1]  Jakob Nielsen,et al.  Determining Usability Test Sample Size , 2006 .

[2]  Janet C. Read,et al.  Validating the Fun Toolkit: an instrument for measuring children’s opinions of technology , 2008, Cognition, Technology & Work.

[3]  Cathleen Wharton,et al.  Testing a walkthrough methodology for theory-based design of walk-up-and-use interfaces , 1990, CHI '90.

[4]  Cathleen Wharton,et al.  The cognitive walkthrough method: a practitioner's guide , 1994 .

[5]  Gabriele Guidi,et al.  3D Visualization of Cultural Heritage Artefacts with Virtual Reality devices , 2015 .

[6]  Francesca Fatta.  Communication, Technology, and Digital Culture for the Conservation and Enhancement of the Architectural Heritage , 2015 .

[7]  Fabio Bruno,et al.  Comparing Different Visuo-Haptic Environments for Virtual Prototyping Applications , 2011 .

[8]  Charalambos Poullis,et al.  Towards a more effective way of presenting Virtual Reality museums exhibits , 2014, 2014 International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications (VISAPP).

[9]  Jakob Nielsen,et al.  Usability engineering , 1997, The Computer Science and Engineering Handbook.

[10]  B. Joseph Pine,et al.  The Experience Economy , 1999 .

[11]  Fabio Bruno,et al.  From 3D reconstruction to virtual reality: A complete methodology for digital archaeological exhibition , 2010 .

[12]  J R Lewis,et al.  Sample Sizes for Usability Studies: Additional Considerations , 1994, Human factors.

[13]  Dimitrios Skarlatos,et al.  COMPARISON OF LASER SCANNING, PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND SFM-MVS PIPELINE APPLIED IN STRUCTURES AND ARTIFICIAL SURFACES , 2012 .

[14]  Massimo Bergamasco,et al.  Beyond virtual museums: experiencing immersive virtual reality in real museums , 2010 .

[15]  Gilbert Cockton,et al.  Why and when five test users aren’t enough , 2001 .