HCI goes to the zoo

This workshop will explore research into interactive and digital technologies in zoos, aquariums and wildlife parks. Such sites are making increasing use of technology in their work to foster educational, emotional and entertaining connections between visitors and animals, with the goal of transforming attitudes to wildlife and conservation. Bringing together HCI researchers with interests in zoos (as a design context) and animals (as a design user), as well as animal welfare and behavior experts, this workshop will further our understanding of what it means to design and use technology in this space at the intersection of the human and animal worlds

Presenting Physical Things Digitally: New Collecting Practices

The motivations for collecting and the idiosyncrasies of physical and digital collections have been long studied. However, how they are presented in the digital space is an unresolved challenge. To help better understand this problem from a design perspective, we built Thinga.Me. Thinga.Me is a system which allows users to capture photographs of physical objects and then cut them out, place them into digital collections, and share them. By segmenting the object from the background the interface creates the illusion of a physical item, giving a sense of carrying your stuff with you in your pocket. Following two years of development, iteration and feedback, we discuss uses of the app and the implications it can have for changing the way we reflect on physical things in our lives. In particular, we focus on how digital collection are presented and displayed in a realistic way as a way of providing more meaning and helping shape users’ identities. Demonstrating the importance of visual design choices, our results lead to considerations on how to most appropriately display physical objects in the virtual world, whilst avoiding the uncanniness some might experience when interacting with skeuomorphic collections

Presenting Physical Things Digitally: New Collecting Practices

The motivations for collecting and the idiosyncrasies of physical and digital collections have been long studied. However, how they are presented in the digital space is an unresolved challenge. To help better understand this problem from a design perspective, we built Thinga.Me. Thinga.Me is a system which allows users to capture photographs of physical objects and then cut them out, place them into digital collections, and share them. By segmenting the object from the background the interface creates the illusion of a physical item, giving a sense of carrying your stuff with you in your pocket. Following two years of development, iteration and feedback, we discuss uses of the app and the implications it can have for changing the way we reflect on physical things in our lives. In particular, we focus on how digital collection are presented and displayed in a realistic way as a way of providing more meaning and helping shape users’ identities. Demonstrating the importance of visual design choices, our results lead to considerations on how to most appropriately display physical objects in the virtual world, whilst avoiding the uncanniness some might experience when interacting with skeuomorphic collections

An interdisciplinary design of an interactive cultural heritage visit for in-situ, mixed reality and affective experiences

Interactive technologies, such as mixed-reality and natural interactions with avatars, can enhance cultural heritage and the experience of visiting a museum. In this paper, we present the design rationale of an interactive experience for a cultural heritage place in the church of Roncesvalles at the beginning of Camino de Santiago. We followed a participatory design with a multidisciplinary team which resulted in the design of a spatial augmented reality system that employs 3D projection mapping and a conversational agent acting as the storyteller. Multiple features were identified as desirable for an interactive experience: interdisciplinary design team; in-situ; mixed reality; interactive digital storytelling; avatar; tangible objects; gestures; emotions and groups. The findings from a workshop are presented for guiding other interactive cultural heritage experiences. © 2022 by the authors.This research was funded by the R & D projects of the Government of Navarra under grant agreement No 0011-1365-2021-000063

Treasure codes: augmenting learning from physical museum exhibits through treasure hunting

Previous studies have highlighted the difficulty that designers face in creating mobile museum guides to enhance small group experiences. In this paper, we report a study exploring the potential of mobile visual recognition technology (Artcodes) to improve users’ experiences in a visitor centre. A prototype mobile guide in the form of a treasure hunt was developed and evaluated by means of a field study comparing this technology with the existing personal guided tour. The results reveal a preference for the mobile guide amongst participants and show significant learning gains from pre-test to post-test compared with the pre-existing personal tour. Our observational analyses indicate how the mobile guide can be used to improve visitors’ learning experiences by supporting active discovery and by balancing physical and digital interactions. We further expand the concept of design trajectories to consider micro-scaffolding as a way of understanding and designing future public technologies

Can location-based mobile marketing enhance the customer experience and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty?

This study intends to explore the impact of customer experience on customer satisfaction and loyalty by trying to understand how location-based mobile marketing might enhance the customer experience. Primary data was collected from 201 smartphone users in 24 countries. Results have indicated that targeted location-based marketing positively influences customers’ experiences. Besides, the analysis has also shown a favorable impact on customers’ satisfaction and self-perceived loyalty. This suggests that location-based mobile marketing has the potential to positively add value to a customer’s experience and should therefore be considered an important tool in marketing communications.NSBE - UN

The Mediating Role of Real-Time Information Between Location-Based User-Generated Content and Tourist Gift Purchase Intention

The global use of Web 2.0 applications has generated enormous volumes of user content. Drawing on cognitive load theory, this study examines unexplored factors that influence gift purchase intention of tourists. The authors identify localization and realtime information for shaping tourists' gift purchase intention, which is facilitated by reduced cognitive overload. Analyzes of the study relies on a sample of 273 foreign tourists in Malaysia. A cross-sectional quantitative study is conducted using partial least square structural equation modeling. Results showed that location-based user-generated content and real-time information significantly affect gift purchase intention of tourists. Moreover, real-time information partially mediates the relationship between location-based user-generated content and gift purchase intention

Meeting the needs of the Millennials and Generation Z: gamification in tourism through geocaching

This paper presents a conceptual framework based on an understanding of the principles of popular mobile-enabled games, indicating how organisations in the tourism sector could meet the needs of Millennials and Generation Z through engaging with the existing gamified location based practice of geocaching as an ICT-enabled gamified enhancement to the destination experience. As a primarily conceptual paper, we take an inductive qualitative approach to theory building based on our understanding of an existing practice (geocaching) that is undertaken among a community of practitioners (geocachers), which results in our presentation of a conceptual framework, which is the theory itself that we have constructed from our understanding of what is going on and which principles can then be applied across other tourism practices. Findings indicate that through engaging with geocaching, smaller entrepreneurial businesses even in non-urban destinations that fall outside of the remit of smart city developments, and in tourism destinations on the less technologically enabled or resource-rich side of the digital divide, can reap the benefits associated with employing the principles and practices associated with smart tourism to meet the needs of this new generation of tourism consumers who seek richer digital and often gamified tourism experiences. This paper fills a gap in the literature regarding the way many different types of tourism destinations could meet the needs of Millennials and Generation Z tourists