The Use of Digital Technologies in the Art World to Preserve Traumatic Cultural Legacies

For many centuries, people have used arts to express their concern in regard to oppression, injustice, and violence. The key motivation for this research is to the wider range of possibilities on how digital technologies can be utilized to reiterating the complicated and layered aspects of traumatic cultural legacies. The data and case studies for this qualitative-descriptive research is derived from numerous academic journals, books and reviews, and in-person visit to the exhibition; in which the chosen case studies are curated based on some predetermined conditions. This research will show how digital technology enable people to play and interact with historical exhibits, and eventually learn from it in an enjoyable way. Specifically, this research highlights the use of Virtual Reality (VR), 360 degrees video, interactive installation, Augmented Reality (AR) and gamification. In the end, this research maintains that digital technologies allow us to digitally preserve, access, and share our traumatic cultural legacies more easily. In the future it is surely offer more opportunities to preserve and promote culture in innovative ways

The People Inside

Our collection begins with an example of computer vision that cuts through time and bureaucratic opacity to help us meet real people from the past. Buried in thousands of files in the National Archives of Australia is evidence of the exclusionary “White Australia” policies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which were intended to limit and discourage immigration by non-Europeans. Tim Sherratt and Kate Bagnall decided to see what would happen if they used a form of face-detection software made ubiquitous by modern surveillance systems and applied it to a security system of a century ago. What we get is a new way to see the government documents, not as a source of statistics but, Sherratt and Bagnall argue, as powerful evidence of the people affected by racism

Transforming visitor experience with museum technologies: The development and impact evaluation of a recommender system in a physical museum

Over the past few decades, many attempts have been made to develop recommender systems (RSs) that could improve visitor experience (VX) in physical museums. Nevertheless, to determine the effectiveness of a museum RS, studies often encompass system performance evaluations, e.g., user experience (UX) and accuracy level tests, and rarely extend to the VX realm that museum RSs aim to support. The reported challenges with defining and evaluating VX might explain why the evidence that the interaction with an RS during the visit can enhance the quality of VX remains limited. Without this evidence, however, the purpose of developing museum RSs and the benefits of using RSs during a museum visit are in question. This thesis interrogates whether and how museum RSs can impact VX. It first consolidates the literature about VX-related constructs into one coherent analytical framework of museum experience which delineates the scope of VX. Following this analysis, this research develops and validates a VX instrument with cognitive, introspective, restorative, and affective variables which could be used to evaluate VX with or without museum technologies. Then, through a series of UX- and VX-related studies in the physical museum, this research implements a fully working content-based RS and establishes how the interaction with the developed RS transforms VX. The findings in this thesis demonstrate that the impact of an RS on the quality of VX can depend on the level of engagement with the system during a museum visit. Additionally, the impact can be insufficient on some mental processes within VX, and it can vary following the changes in contextual variables. The findings also reinforce that system performance tests cannot replace a VX-focused analysis, because a positive UX and additional information about museum objects in an RS do not imply an improved VX. Therefore, this thesis underscores that more VX-related evaluations of museum RSs are required to identify how to strengthen and extend their influence on the quality of VX

Presenting ancient history through serious games: a case-study in Assyriology

This thesis investigates how ancient history can be effectively presented through serious games for educational purposes, by presenting a case study in the field of Assyriology. It is anticipated that the results are applicable to other fields of history and cultural heritage. A model is presented to describe how heritage and historical content can be manifested in video games, for the design of serious games for heritage and the analysis of commercial games that present historical material. The theories of reduced fidelity constrained virtual environments are applied to serious games for heritage, to reduce required development resources. A constrained implementation of a serious game for Assyriology is tested against an equivalent 3D environment, and results indicate the constrained environment can achieve comparable levels of presence, enjoyment, quality, and interest in the subject. Based on an interview with an Assyriology field expert, a methodology for the analysis and design of serious games for heritage is presented, based on activity theory. The methodology is applied to the analysis and redesign of a serious game for Assyriology, and the development of a playable prototype. An online user-test showed the redesigned game was enjoyed by participants and was effective at achieving its learning objectives

As tecnologias de informação e comunicação na democratização do museu: estratégias digitais participativas e inclusivas

Orientação : Mário Canova MoutinhoNas últimas décadas a crescente adopção de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação pelos museus, incorporadas no espaço expositivo ou como forma de providenciar uma experiência museal remota através da Web, veio ampliar o acesso aos bens culturais a audiências mais vastas e diversificadas, assim como possibilitar através de novas formas de mediação uma interacção multidireccional entre as instituições e os seus utilizadores, que podem agora envolver-se mais activamente com o património através de práticas museológicas inovadoras mais participativas e inclusivas. Esta transformação na relação com a audiência é considerada uma oportunidade para os museus se reinventarem e assegurarem a sua relevância no séc. XXI como instituições democráticas, mais abertas e atentas à sociedade e a novas realidades, participando activamente no debate e reflexão sobre questões contemporâneas, promovendo o desenvolvimento, o entendimento mútuo e a cidadania. Na investigação é feita uma análise do actual e potencial impacto das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação nas práticas museológicas contemporâneas, focada em particular no uso da tecnologia como instrumento de democratização do museu, no sentido de promover a acessibilidade aos bens culturais e favorecer o envolvimento de públicos plurais com o património. Partindo de uma revisão da literatura e através de observação e inquérito, procurou-se averiguar dentro do cenário português e europeu, quais os recursos e estratégias de comunicação digitais mais adoptados, quais os que se prevê virem a ter maior expressão no futuro próximo, os principais objectivos do seu uso e os obstáculos à sua implementação. No estudo colaboraram 50 instituições culturais europeias e nacionais, assim como visitantes de 2 instituições portuguesas seleccionadas para estudo da interacção de públicos com as TIC.In recent decades, the increasing adoption of information and communication technologies by museums, incorporated into the exhibition space or as a way of providing a remote museum experience through the Web, has increased access to cultural assets for larger and more diverse audiences, as well as making new forms of mediation possible - multidirectional interaction between the institutions and their users, who can now become more actively involved with cultural heritage through innovative and more participatory museological practices. This transformation in relation to the audience is seen as an opportunity for museums to reinvent themselves and ensure that they continue to be relevant in the 21st century, as democratic institutions which are more open and responsive to society and changing circumstances, actively participating in debate and reflection on contemporary issues, promoting development, mutual understanding and citizenship ! This research analyses the current and potential impact of information and communication technologies in contemporary museological practices, focusing in particular on the use of technology as an instrument for democratising the museum to promote accessibility to cultural assets and to encourage the involvement of diverse audiences with cultural heritage. Based on a literature review and through observation and surveys, an attempt was made within the Portuguese and European setting to find out which are the most widely-adopted digital communication resources and strategies, which are expected to have greater use in future, the main objectives in using them and the obstacles to their implementation. Fifty European and Portuguese cultural institutions collaborated in the study, as well as visitors to two Portuguese institutions selected for analyse the audience interaction and use of the digital resources