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Usability testing of VR reconstructions for museums and heritage sites: A case study from 14th century Chester (UK)
Southall, Helen
Southall, Helen
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2025
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This paper reports research on the usability of a 3D Virtual Reality (VR) model of the interior of St. John’s Church, Chester, as it probably appeared in the 14th Century. A VR visualization was created in Unity, based on archive data and historical records. This was adapted for use with Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets. Participants took part in usability tests of the experience, providing both qualitative and quantitative usability data. Although created with modest time and financial resources, the experience received a good overall usability rating, and numerous positive comments, including from novice VR users. Negative comments mainly related to the experience of wearing a VR headset. This paper concludes by suggesting further work, with thoughts on highly immersive VR in heritage contexts, especially combined with recent developments in generative artificial intelligence.
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Southall, H. (2025, March 8-12). Usability testing of VR reconstructions for museums and heritage sites: A case study from 14th century Chester (UK). 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), 8-12 March 2025, St. Malo, France.
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AHRC Follow on Funding for Impact and Engagement 'The Mobility of Objects Across Boundaries 1000-1700 (MOB)'; QR-funded project ‘Virtuality and Materiality: Examining, Exploring and Extending the Use and User Experience of VR in Regional Museum Settings for the Public, Educators and Curators’ (in collaboration with Dr. Katherine Wilson in History & Archaeology).