The Herbert Virtual Museum

In recent years, virtual reality and augmented reality have emerged as areas of extreme interest as unique methods for visualising and interacting with digital museum artefacts in a different context, for example, as a virtual museum or exhibition, particularly over the Internet. Modern cultural heritage exhibitions have evolved from static to dynamic exhibitions and challenging explorations. This paper presents two different applications developed for the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery that make the user's experience more immersive, engaging, and interactive. The first application utilizes mobile phone devices in order to enrich the visitors experience in the museum, and the second application is a serious game for cultural heritage and in particular for museum environments focusing on the younger visitors

Virtual Museum Tours for Schools: Teachers’ Experiences and Expectations

Students have always been main targets for museums with clear learning strategies between schools and museums that contribute to a reinforced student learning experience. Although several museums offer virtual experiences (also available for schools), these cannot be easily manipulated or combined with other resources to form curriculum-focused learning activities. This study aims to explore the views and expectations of teachers on the use of Virtual Museum Tours (VMT) in their classrooms. Main findings from an online survey with 101 teachers (with or without VMT experience) shed light on their motivations and challenges when engaging their classrooms in such activities. Statistical analysis and visualisations were used to present teachers’ experiences and expectations, and a binary logistic regression analysis was employed to indicate the factors that associate with teachers’ decision to join VMTs in their classrooms. This study’s observations have implications for the design of customisable VMTs for schools, for how museums develop VMTs that facilitate school participation, and how game designers develop virtual gaming apps used in formal education settings

Senseable Spaces: from a theoretical perspective to the application in augmented environments

openGrazie all’ enorme diffusione di dispositivi senzienti nella vita di tutti i giorni, nell’ ultimo decennio abbiamo assistito ad un cambio definitivo nel modo in cui gli utenti interagiscono con lo spazio circostante. Viene coniato il termine Spazio Sensibile, per descrivere quegli spazi in grado di fornire servizi contestuali agli utenti, misurando e analizzando le dinamiche che in esso avvengono, e di reagire conseguentemente a questo continuo flusso di dati bidirezionale. La ricerca è stata condotta abbracciando diversi domini di applicazione, le cui singole esigenze hanno reso necessario testare il concetto di Spazi Sensibili in diverse declinazioni, mantenendo al centro della ricerca l’utente, con la duplice accezione di end-user e manager. Molteplici sono i contributi rispetto allo stato dell’ arte. Il concetto di Spazio Sensibile è stato calato nel settore dei Beni Culturali, degli Spazi Pubblici, delle Geosciences e del Retail. I casi studio nei musei e nella archeologia dimostrano come l’ utilizzo della Realtà Aumentata possa essere sfruttata di fronte a un dipinto o in outdoor per la visualizzazione di modelli complessi, In ambito urbano, il monitoraggio di dati generati dagli utenti ha consentito di capire le dinamiche di un evento di massa, durante il quale le stesse persone fruivano di servizi contestuali. Una innovativa applicazione di Realtà Aumentata è stata come servizio per facilitare l’ ispezione di fasce tampone lungo i fiumi, standardizzando flussi di dati e modelli provenienti da un Sistema Informativo Territoriale. Infine, un robusto sistema di indoor localization è stato istallato in ambiente retail, per scopi classificazione dei percorsi e per determinare le potenzialità di un punto vendita. La tesi è inoltre una dimostrazione di come Space Sensing e Geomatica siano discipline complementari: la geomatica consente di acquisire e misurare dati geo spaziali e spazio temporali a diversa scala, lo Space Sensing utilizza questi dati per fornire servizi all’ utente precisi e contestuali.Given the tremendous growth of ubiquitous services in our daily lives, during the last few decades we have witnessed a definitive change in the way users' experience their surroundings. At the current state of art, devices are able to sense the environment and users’ location, enabling them to experience improved digital services, creating synergistic loop between the use of the technology, and the use of the space itself. We coined the term Senseable Space, to define the kinds of spaces able to provide users with contextual services, to measure and analyse their dynamics and to react accordingly, in a seamless exchange of information. Following the paradigm of Senseable Spaces as the main thread, we selected a set of experiences carried out in different fields; central to this investigation there is of course the user, placed in the dual roles of end-user and manager. The main contribution of this thesis lies in the definition of this new paradigm, realized in the following domains: Cultural Heritage, Public Open Spaces, Geosciences and Retail. For the Cultural Heritage panorama, different pilot projects have been constructed from creating museum based installations to developing mobile applications for archaeological settings. Dealing with urban areas, app-based services are designed to facilitate the route finding in a urban park and to provide contextual information in a city festival. We also outlined a novel application to facilitate the on-site inspection by risk managers thanks to the use of Augmented Reality services. Finally, a robust indoor localization system has been developed, designed to ease customer profiling in the retail sector. The thesis also demonstrates how Space Sensing and Geomatics are complementary to one another, given the assumption that the branches of Geomatics cover all the different scales of data collection, whilst Space Sensing gives one the possibility to provide the services at the correct location, at the correct time.INGEGNERIA DELL'INFORMAZIONEembargoed_20181001Pierdicca, RobertoPierdicca, Robert

Senseable Spaces: from a theoretical perspective to the application in augmented environments

Grazie all’ enorme diffusione di dispositivi senzienti nella vita di tutti i giorni, nell’ ultimo decennio abbiamo assistito ad un cambio definitivo nel modo in cui gli utenti interagiscono con lo spazio circostante. Viene coniato il termine Spazio Sensibile, per descrivere quegli spazi in grado di fornire servizi contestuali agli utenti, misurando e analizzando le dinamiche che in esso avvengono, e di reagire conseguentemente a questo continuo flusso di dati bidirezionale. La ricerca è stata condotta abbracciando diversi domini di applicazione, le cui singole esigenze hanno reso necessario testare il concetto di Spazi Sensibili in diverse declinazioni, mantenendo al centro della ricerca l’utente, con la duplice accezione di end-user e manager. Molteplici sono i contributi rispetto allo stato dell’ arte. Il concetto di Spazio Sensibile è stato calato nel settore dei Beni Culturali, degli Spazi Pubblici, delle Geosciences e del Retail. I casi studio nei musei e nella archeologia dimostrano come l’ utilizzo della Realtà Aumentata possa essere sfruttata di fronte a un dipinto o in outdoor per la visualizzazione di modelli complessi, In ambito urbano, il monitoraggio di dati generati dagli utenti ha consentito di capire le dinamiche di un evento di massa, durante il quale le stesse persone fruivano di servizi contestuali. Una innovativa applicazione di Realtà Aumentata è stata come servizio per facilitare l’ ispezione di fasce tampone lungo i fiumi, standardizzando flussi di dati e modelli provenienti da un Sistema Informativo Territoriale. Infine, un robusto sistema di indoor localization è stato istallato in ambiente retail, per scopi classificazione dei percorsi e per determinare le potenzialità di un punto vendita. La tesi è inoltre una dimostrazione di come Space Sensing e Geomatica siano discipline complementari: la geomatica consente di acquisire e misurare dati geo spaziali e spazio temporali a diversa scala, lo Space Sensing utilizza questi dati per fornire servizi all’ utente precisi e contestuali.Given the tremendous growth of ubiquitous services in our daily lives, during the last few decades we have witnessed a definitive change in the way users' experience their surroundings. At the current state of art, devices are able to sense the environment and users’ location, enabling them to experience improved digital services, creating synergistic loop between the use of the technology, and the use of the space itself. We coined the term Senseable Space, to define the kinds of spaces able to provide users with contextual services, to measure and analyse their dynamics and to react accordingly, in a seamless exchange of information. Following the paradigm of Senseable Spaces as the main thread, we selected a set of experiences carried out in different fields; central to this investigation there is of course the user, placed in the dual roles of end-user and manager. The main contribution of this thesis lies in the definition of this new paradigm, realized in the following domains: Cultural Heritage, Public Open Spaces, Geosciences and Retail. For the Cultural Heritage panorama, different pilot projects have been constructed from creating museum based installations to developing mobile applications for archaeological settings. Dealing with urban areas, app-based services are designed to facilitate the route finding in a urban park and to provide contextual information in a city festival. We also outlined a novel application to facilitate the on-site inspection by risk managers thanks to the use of Augmented Reality services. Finally, a robust indoor localization system has been developed, designed to ease customer profiling in the retail sector. The thesis also demonstrates how Space Sensing and Geomatics are complementary to one another, given the assumption that the branches of Geomatics cover all the different scales of data collection, whilst Space Sensing gives one the possibility to provide the services at the correct location, at the correct time

Σχεδιασμός, ανάπτυξη και αξιολόγηση παιχνιδιού Επαυξημένης Πραγματικότητας για την υποστήριξη της διδασκαλίας κατά τη διάρκεια εκπαιδευτικών επισκέψεων σε αρχαιολογικούς χώρους

Η αξιοποίηση της τεχνολογίας της Επαυξημένης Πραγματικότητας (Ε.Π.) για φορητές συσκευές σε συνδυασμό με προσεγγίσεις μάθησης βασισμένης στο παιχνίδι, αποτελεί μια από τις τάσεις που καταγράφονται τα τελευταία χρόνια, αναφορικά με τη διδασκαλία της Ιστορίας σε αρχαιολογικούς χώρους. Η συνάφεια τέτοιων εφαρμογών με τον εποικοδομισμό και την πλαισιοθετημένη μάθηση ευθυγραμμίζεται με την ανάγκη για στροφή προς πιο μαθητοκεντρικές προσεγγίσεις. Ταυτόχρονα, αναδεικνύεται ο κρίσιμος ρόλος της ιστορικής ενσυναίσθησης στην αποτελεσματική διδασκαλία της Ιστορίας και ως εκ τούτου συνιστά πρόκληση η εμπλοκή των μαθητών σε αυτού του είδους τις διαδικασίες με τη βοήθεια των φορητών συσκευών. Στην παρούσα έρευνα παρατίθεται η μεθοδολογία σχεδιασμού, ανάπτυξης και διαμορφωτικής αξιολόγησης του παιχνιδιού Ε.Π. «PlatoAR» για φορητές συσκευές. Ο αρχαιολογικός χώρος της Ακαδημίας Πλάτωνος αποτελεί τον χώρο διεξαγωγής του παιχνιδιού και σκοπός του είναι η υποστήριξη της διδασκαλίας της Ιστορίας των κλασικών χρόνων σε μαθητές Δ΄ Δημοτικού μέσω της εμπλοκής τους σε διαδικασίες ιστορικής ενσυναίσθησης. Για την ανάπτυξη του παιχνιδιού αξιοποιήθηκαν τα τρία πρώτα στάδια της μεθοδολογίας της «έρευνας που βασίζεται στο σχεδιασμό». Στο πρώτο πραγματοποιήθηκε «Αναγνώριση και ανάλυση του προβλήματος» της διδασκαλίας της Ιστορίας, στο δεύτερο ο «Σχεδιασμός και η ανάπτυξη του πρωτοτύπου» της εφαρμογής και στο τρίτο η χρήση της εφαρμογής στον αρχαιολογικό χώρο και η αξιολόγησή της ως προς την ευχρηστία, την κατάσταση «Ροής», το περιεχόμενο και τους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν τη χρήση της. Τα εργαλεία συλλογής δεδομένων ήταν τόσο ποσοτικά, όσο και ποιοτικά και περιλάμβαναν συμμετοχική παρατήρηση, συνεντεύξεις, καθώς και ερωτηματολόγια. Η ανάλυση των δεδομένων φανέρωσε θετικά αποτελέσματα ως προς την ευχρηστία της εφαρμογής, την κατάσταση «Ροής» που βίωσαν οι παίκτες και την παιδαγωγική αξία του περιεχομένου. Σε ότι έχει να κάνει με τους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν τη χρήση της εφαρμογής, αυτοί σχετίζονται με το περιβάλλον, τα τεχνικά ζητήματα και την προετοιμασία του εκπαιδευτικού αναφορικά με την επίσκεψη στον χώρο. Τέλος, τα αποτελέσματα της αξιολόγησης έδειξαν ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί είναι δυνατό να εμπλακούν ενεργά στον σχεδιασμό και την ανάπτυξη εφαρμογών Ε.Π., ικανών να επιφέρουν προστιθέμενη αξία στη διδασκαλία της Ιστορίας σε αρχαιολογικούς χώρους που έχουν απωλέσει την αρχική τους μορφή.One of the recent trends in history teaching in archaeological sites is the use of Augmented Reality (A.R.) technologies for mobile devices in combination with game-based learning approaches. The relevance of such approaches with the theories of constructivism and situated learning is well aligned with the need for student-centered approaches. At the same time, historical empathy stands out as a crucial factor and thus student’s engagement with these kind of procedures when they interact with mobile apps, constitutes a challenge. This research addresses the design, development and formative evaluation of the A.R. mobile game “PlatoAR”, concerning history teaching and learning, taking place at the archaeological site of Plato’s Academy. The aim of the game is to support history teaching in primary education by engaging students in the process of historical empathy. “PlatoAR” was developed using a design-based research (DBR) methodology which consists of three phases of design and research. The first phase addressed the “Analysis of practical problems by researcher and practitioners in collaboration” concerning history teaching, the second the “Prototype design and development” of the application and the third one, the use and evaluation of the app concerning its usability, the concept of Flow, its content and the factors that influence its effective use (Sample: 31 teachers and 16 students). Questionnaires, observations and interviews were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Data analysis indicated good usability, Flow and content value results. When it comes to the factors that influence the use of the app, it’s worth mentioning that they are related to the environment, the technical issues and teacher’s preparation concerning field trip planning. Finally, the results showed that it’s possible for teachers to be actively engaged in the design and development of A.R. mobile apps, capable of bringing added value to history teaching and learning, taking place at archaeological sites that through the ages have “lost” their original appearance

Alfabetización digital en la educación: posicionamientos ausentes de una definición consensuada

In a world where the introduction of technologies in social interaction environments has generated important transformations in the way people communicate, acquire knowledge, and share information. Digital literacy (DA) establishes a fundamental role in universal education, so higher education is no exception. Because it involves not only initial knowledge of how to use technological devices and tools, but also the ability to use, understand and critically evaluate digital technology effectively and safely. The objective of this research is to analyze the theoretical contributions about AD in higher education students in the period from 2018 to 2023 to generate an approach to its meaning. The methodology employs a systematic literature review approach to identify existing knowledge on the topic, as well as areas not yet explored. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria are used in the Google Scholar database to carry out the search for articles. As a third result, eight open access articles obtained from two previous reviews were examined, the first with 108 articles and the second with 68. Inaccuracies and lack of knowledge regarding the concept were recorded. They generally refer to the AD construct as digital competencies or skills. Regarding the findings, the absence of scientific production related to the topic is identified, with the majority being international contributions. The above makes its adoption, development, and promotion within the university community difficult