ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE IN VIRTUAL REALITY DOES IMMERSION REALLY AID LEARNING?

This study explored whether students benefited from an immersive panoramic display while studying subject matter that is visually complex and information-rich. Specifically, middle-school students learned about ancient Egyptian art and society using an educational learning game, Gates of Horus, which is based on a simplified three dimensional computer model of an Egyptian temple. First, we demonstrated that the game is an effective learning tool by comparing written post-test results from students who played the game and students in a no-treatment control group. Next, we compared the learning results of two groups of students who used the same mechanical controls to navigate through the computer model of the temple and to interact with its features. One of the groups saw the temple on a standard computer desktop monitor while the other-saw it in a visually immersive display (a partial dome) The major difference in the test results between the two groups appeared when the students gave a verbal show-and-tell presentation about the Temple and the facts and concepts related to it. During that exercise, the students had no cognitive scaffolding other than the Virtual Egyptian Temple which was projected on a wall. The student navigated through the temple and described its major features. Students who had used the visually immersive display volunteered notably more than those who had used a computer monitor. The other major tests were questionnaires, which by their nature provide a great deal of scaffolding for the task of recalling the required information. For these tests we believe that this scaffolding aided students' recall to the point where it overwhelmed the differences produced by any difference in the display. We conclude that the immersive display provides better supports for the student's learning activities for this material. To our knowledge, this is the first formal study to show concrete evidence that visual immersion can improve learning for a non-science topic

Exploring Place Attachment Theory in VR of a Rural Destination: The effect of VR Experience on domestic tourists’ attachment to places

Virtual Reality (VR) has the power to transform tourism experiences. VR can enhance the pre-, on-site, and post-travel stage by offering a range of new and innovative digital experiences. Place attachment (PA) theory can be described as people’s emotional bond to places. One of the key aspects of developing PA is due to positive place experiences. Hence, the tourist experience represents a critical factor in forming attachments to destinations. In the last decade, PA studies in tourism have increasingly examined how tourists form emotional bonds to places. The benefits of PA may lead to a range of positive outcomes for destinations such as sustainability, loyalty or place satisfaction. However, limited studies have explored how immersive experiences impact tourists’ attachment with destinations. Therefore, to address the gap, this doctoral thesis aimed to explore to what extent VR has an impact on tourists’ experience and attachment to a rural destination. For this purpose, an exploratory sequential mixed method research design was followed. The research was carried out at the biggest national park in the UK, Lake District National Park. The sample for both data collection stages involved repeated domestic tourists. Within the first qualitative stage, data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis to reveal new PA themes in a VR setting. The new identified themes were accessibility, aesthetics, presence, memories, increased place knowledge and Increased Intention to Revisit and Place Attachment. The second stage included a questionnaire and included a larger sample of repeat tourists to test the proposed model. For this purpose, the PA framework was tested by using the partial least square analysis. The findings found a significant impact of VR on tourists’ PA. However, the type of VR experience differed based on tourists’ existing PA level. The theoretical contribution of this thesis lies in proposing and validating the PA framework by integrating VR into PA. Furthermore, the thesis also presented methodological contribution and practical implications