Analysis of how universal design principles impact on the perception of virtual museum interfaces

The research presented in this paper aims to analysis of the impact of using universal design in implementation of virtual museum interfaces to user perception. Experiment uses collaboration with Museum of the History of the City of Lublin to create the web application which presents virtual exhibits. The application was based on the React JavaScript framework, which enabled the creation of a basic web interface and the React 360 to generate the three-dimensional view. During research, implemented application was compared with the muzeumpuck.wkraj.pl website, which does not conform the universal design principles. The main research method consisted of Eye-tracking technology and LUT survey. The analysis of the results shows that interface which follow principles of universal design was easier to navigate. The time of searching specifical elements on that interface was shorter than in other application, as well

Analyzing Visitors’ Discourse, Attitudes, Perceptions, and Knowledge Acquisition in an Art Museum Tour After Using a 3D Virtual Environment

The main purpose of this mixed methods research was to explore and analyze visitors’ overall experience while they attended a museum exhibition, and examine how this experience was affected by previously using a virtual 3dimensional representation of the museum itself. The research measured knowledge acquisition in a virtual museum, and compared this knowledge acquired between a virtual museum versus a real one, employing a series of questionnaires, unobtrusive observations, surveys, personal and group interviews related to the exhibition and the artist. A group of twenty-seven undergraduate students in their first semester at the College of Architecture and Design of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico participated in the research, and were divided in two groups, one of which used a 3D virtual representation previous to the museum visit. Results show that participants who experienced the virtual museum concurred that using it was a positive experience that prepared them to go to the real museum because they knew already what they were going to find. Most of the participants who experienced the virtual museum exhibited an increased activity during their museum visit, either agreeing, being more participative, concurring and showing acceptance, asking questions, or even giving their opinion and analysis, disagreeing with the guide and showing passive rejection. Also participants from this group showed an increase on their correct answers to the knowledge acquisition questionnaires, going from 27% answers responded correctly in the pre-test, to 67% of correct answers after the virtual museum usage. The research attempted to show that experiencing a virtual museum can be similar to the experience in physical museum visits, not only engaging participants to go to the museum, but sometimes even offering a more functional way to deliver content. Results of this research evidence that using a virtual museum creates a positive impact in users before, during, and after the museum visit, and that it can be a good alternative, not only for educational, but for promotional and recreational and purposes