Assessing the user response to differences in functionality when visualising 3D models of cultural heritage sites using the Technology Readiness Index

Visualisation of cultural heritage using 3D modelling in situ or over the Internet has increased in recent years. This paper examines people's readiness to accept these and their preferred degree of sophistication using a visualisation video of a 3D model of the Fishbourne Roman Palace in West Sussex, England. Participants viewed six visualisations in a controlled environment that sequentially added features such as texture, sound, lighting and ultimately interaction and mobility via game engine technologies. The updated Technology Readiness Index was used to group participants according to their willingness to accept the visualisations. TRI Explorers appreciated the addition of interactivity while enhanced model fidelity satisfied other groups. Linking the profile of the TRI groups with published survey results relating the characteristics of historical museum visitors suggests that TRI Explorers are not the target demographic negating the need for interactivity, although a museum's visitor profile should also be considered

Using 3D modelling and game engine technologies for interactive exploration of cultural heritage : an evaluation of four game engines in relation to Roman archaeological heritage

Developments in information technology have challenged the traditional model of museums, libraries and similar venues acting as relatively passive ‘learning spaces’ for the public to access ‘knowledge’ as an exchange between tutor and learner, or in this context curator and visitor enabling them to offer more immersive and interactive modes of transfer. This article examines the development of a 3D model built from plans of a Roman edifice and its transfer into four game engines as vehicles for independent navigation around the ‘virtual building’. The game engines are evaluated in respect of their ability to enhance visitors’ experience by using an on-site facility when visiting a museum constructed over the physical remains. Cost and licensing override technical factors such as audiovisual and functional fidelity or composability and installing the system on a PC is preferable to more specialist game control devices if a broad user base is targeted

Timeline design for visualising cultural heritage data

This thesis is concerned with the design of data visualisations of digitised museum, archive and library collections, in timelines. As cultural institutions digitise their collections—converting texts, objects, and artworks to electronic records—the volume of cultural data available grows. There is a growing perception, though, that we need to get more out of this data. Merely digitising does not automatically make collections accessible, discoverable and comprehensible, and standard interfaces do not necessarily support the types of interactions users wish to make. Data visualisations—this thesis focuses on interactive visual representations of data created with software—allow us to see an overview of, observe patterns in, and showcase the richness of, digitised collections. Visualisation can support analysis, exploration and presentation of collections for different audiences: research, collection administration, and the general public. The focus here is on visualising cultural data by time: a fundamental dimension for making sense of historical data, but also one with unique strangeness. Through cataloguing, cultural institutions define the meaning and value of items in their collections and the structure within which to make sense of them. By visualising threads in cataloguing data through time, can historical narratives be made visible? And is the data alone enough to tell the stories that people wish to tell? The intended audience for this research is cultural heritage institutions. This work sits at the crossroads between design, cultural heritage (particularly museology), and computing—drawing on the fields of digital humanities, information visualisation and human computer-interaction which also live in these overlapping spaces. This PhD adds clarity around the question of what cultural visualisation is (and can be) for, and highlights issues in the visualisation of qualitative or nominal data. The first chapter lays out the background, characterising cultural data and its visualisation. Chapter two walks through examples of existing cultural timeline visualisations, from the most handcrafted displays to automated approaches. At this point, the research agenda and methodology are set out. The next five chapters document a portfolio of visualisation projects, designing and building novel prototype timeline visualisations with data from the Wellcome Library and Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City, and the Nordic Museum, Stockholm. In the process, a range of issues are identified for further discussion. The final chapters reflect on these projects, arguing that automated timeline visualisation can be a productive way to explore and present historical narratives in collection data, but a range of factors govern what is possible and useful. Trust in cultural data visualisation is also discussed. This research argues that visualising cultural data can add value to the data both for users and for data-holding institutions. However, that value is likely to be best achieved by customising a visualisation design to the dataset, audience and use case. Keywords: cultural heritage data; historical data; cultural analytics; cultural informatics; humanities visualisation; generous interfaces; digital humanities; design; information design; interface design; data visualisation; information visualisation; time; timeline; history; historiography; museums; museology; archives; chronographics

Factors influencing e-government services usage behaviour among Saudi Arabia’s SME employees

Absher is an e-government platform that provides facilities and enhances e-services for citizens and agencies/businesses in Saudi Arabia. However, less usage of e-services provided by Absher amongst the SME employees is reported. There are no empirical studies to uncover the issue of the uses of e-government by employees of SMEs-Saudi Arabia. This work investigates the factors hindering the SMEs employees to perform their personal work tasks through Absher e-services. An integrated model was proposed based on the dominant theories; the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTUAT2) and Technology Readiness Index (TRI) by considering the context of the study. The proposed model encompasses insecurity, discomfort, optimism, social influence, facilitating condition, and habit as independent variables, behavioural intention as a mediating variable, gender, age, and ICT experience as moderating variables, and use behavior as dependent variable. Data were collected using structured questionnaires from a sample of 477 SME’s employees from different industries in Saudi Arabia. The analysis was conducted using Covarience-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) via AMOS to evaluate the relationships among the proposed factors and the use of behaviour of Absher services. The findings showed that insecurity and discomfort have a negative effect, while optimism, facilitating condition, social influence and habit positively affect the behavioural intentions for using e-government services by employees of SMEs-Saudi Arabia. The findings also showed no direct relationships between facilitating conditions and habits, and the use behaviours. Behavioural intention significantly mediates these relationships and all other relationships between the independent variables and the use of behaviour. Furthermore, gender significantly moderates the effect of discomfort, insecurity, optimism, and habit on the behavioural intentions for using e- government service by the staff of Saudi Arabia SMEs while age significantly moderates the effect of insecurity, social influence and habit on the behavioural intention. Also, ICT experience considerably moderates the influences of insecurity, discomfort, social influence, and habit on the behavioural intention. The model as an output from the findings of the study can help policy and decision makers to better tailor e-government services to the options and needs of SMEs’ employees leading to higher levels of usage