Cognition-Based Evaluation of Visualisation Frameworks for Exploring Structured Cultural Heritage Data

It is often claimed that Information Visualisation (InfoVis) tools improve the audience’s engagement with the display of cultural heritage (CH) collections, open up CH content to new audiences and support teaching and learning through interactive experiences. But there is a lack of studies systematically evaluating these claims, particularly from the perspective of modern educational theory. As far as the author is aware no experimental investigation has been undertaken until now, that attempts to measure deeper levels of user engagement and learning with InfoVis tools. The investigation of this thesis complements InfoVis research by initiating a human-centric approach since little previous research has attempted to incorporate and integrate human cognition as one of the fundamental components of InfoVis. In this thesis, using Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives as well as individual learning characteristics (i.e. cognitive preferences), I have evaluated the visitor experience of an art collection both with and without InfoVis tools (between subjects design). Results indicate that whilst InfoVis tools have some positive effect on the lower levels of learning, they are less effective for higher levels. In addition, this thesis shows that InfoVis tools seem to be more effective when they match specific cognitive preferences. These results have implications for both the designers of tools and for CH venues in terms of expectation of effectiveness and exhibition design; the proposed cognitive based evaluation framework and the results of this investigation could provide a valuable baseline for assessing the effectiveness of visitors’ interaction with the artifacts of online and physical exhibitions where InfoVis tools such as Timelines and Maps along with storytelling techniques are being used

A Museum App to Trigger Users' Reflection

International audienceThis paper introduces a mobile museum guide that has been designed for the National Gallery in London with the special goal of triggering reflection of the visitor. We also present the results obtained from a first experiment. The underlying postulate is that visitors are more prone to reflection and more interested by the collection in a museum if they can discover it through other facets than those highlighted solely in the museum, and if this discovery is personalised for each of them. The smart guide includes means to personalise a visit by modelling the user preferences and behaviour, and builds recommendations for stories or groups of paintings based on the user profile and reflective topics

Reliving the experience of visiting a gallery : methods for evaluating informal learning in games for cultural heritage

When evaluating the effectiveness of gamified app experiences in cultural heritage venues in terms of informal learning outcomes, a core challenge is the complexity involved in assessing intangible measures such as visitors’ appraisal of artwork. A comprehensive summary of the literature for conducting museum visitor evaluations is needed in order to understand how to measure the impact of gamification on user engagement, and the enhancement of the cultural heritage experience on learning. This paper first reviews related literature regarding the application of intrusive versus nonintrusive user evaluation methods, focusing on the REMIND protocol for conducting experiments with museum visitors. We relay our findings when applying the REMIND protocol in four gamified cultural heritage applications in the CrossCult project. Focusing on the assessment of informal learning in an application specifically designed for the visitors of the National Gallery of London, the paper concludes with recommendations, challenges, and future steps in evaluating games for cultural heritage.peer-reviewe

On how technology-powered storytelling can contribute to cultural heritage sustainability across multiple venues-Evidence from the crosscult H2020 project

Sustainability in Cultural Heritage (CH) is a complex question that needs to be addressed by a group of experts tackling the different issues. In this light, the present work wishes to provide a multi-level analysis of the sustainability in CH, using as an example a recent European H2020 project (CrossCult) and the lessons learnt from its design, implementation and evaluation. The sustainability of CH has qualitatively changed over the last few years, under the developments in digital technology that seems to affect the very nature of the cultural experience. We discuss sustainability in venues using digital technologies, covering a span of needs of small/unknown and large/popular venues, which try to enhance the visitor experience, attract visitors, form venue networks, etc. Moreover, we explore issues of sustainability of digital content and its re usability through holistic design. Aspects of technology, human networks and data sustainability are also presented, and we conclude with the arguments concerning the sustainability of visitor reflection, the interpretation of social and historical phenomena and the creation of meaning.This research was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 693150. The authors from the University of Vigo got further support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Galician Regional Government under agreement for funding the AtlantTIC Research Center for Information and Communication Technologies, as well as the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Gobierno de España) research project TIN2017-87604-R

Technology-Powered Strategies to Rethink the Pedagogy of History and Cultural Heritage through Symmetries and Narratives

Recent advances in semantic web and deep learning technologies enable new means for the computational analysis of vast amounts of information from the field of digital humanities. We discuss how some of the techniques can be used to identify historical and cultural symmetries between different characters, locations, events or venues, and how these can be harnessed to develop new strategies to promote intercultural and cross-border aspects that support the teaching and learning of history and heritage. The strategies have been put to the test in the context of the European project CrossCult, revealing enormous potential to encourage curiosity to discover new information and increase retention of learned informatio

Building Bridges Across Heritage Silos

This research considers how best to cross the divides that exist between: (1) disparate practices between research fields (2) disparate interpretations of shared cultural heritage by the public and (3) disparate cultural heritage objects

CROSSCULT upper-level ontology

CC-Ontology is the upper-level ontology used in the CROSSCULT project, which also includes the concepts needed for representing venues, and the latest version of the vocabulary of terms

CROSSCULT user ontology

CC-UserOntology is the user ontology to be used in the CROSSCULT project, aiming to capture rich information in user profiles to enable innovative applications in relation to cultural heritage reflection and re-interpretation

On how technology-powered storytelling can contribute to cultural heritage sustainability across multiple venues-Evidence from the crosscult H2020 project

Sustainability in Cultural Heritage (CH) is a complex question that needs to be addressed by a group of experts tackling the different issues. In this light, the present work wishes to provide a multi-level analysis of the sustainability in CH, using as an example a recent European H2020 project (CrossCult) and the lessons learnt from its design, implementation and evaluation. The sustainability of CH has qualitatively changed over the last few years, under the developments in digital technology that seems to affect the very nature of the cultural experience. We discuss sustainability in venues using digital technologies, covering a span of needs of small/unknown and large/popular venues, which try to enhance the visitor experience, attract visitors, form venue networks, etc. Moreover, we explore issues of sustainability of digital content and its re usability through holistic design. Aspects of technology, human networks and data sustainability are also presented, and we conclude with the arguments concerning the sustainability of visitor reflection, the interpretation of social and historical phenomena and the creation of meaning