Impact of Location, Gender and Previous Experience on User Evaluation of Augmented Reality in Cultural Heritage: The Mjällby Crucifix Case Study

Abstract

In recent decades, a growing number of museums have adopted digital media, both as an enhancement of exhibitions of real artifacts and as an alternative to traditional display methods. The digital acquisition of artifacts generates accurate 3D replicas that can be displayed via different digital media. With an increase in immersive technologies in the cultural heritage (CH) domain, it is common to see digital artifacts presented in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). This paper presents two user studies conducted in different locations evaluating the use of an AR application in the portrayal of the Mjällby Crucifix artifact. This paper presents the overall results from both user studies evaluating and discussing the AR application on a number of different aspects on a 7-point Likert scale: (1) understanding the artifact, (2) ease of use, (3) object feeling part of reality, (4) perceived visual quality of the object, (5) overall satisfaction experience, and (6) willingness to download the AR application. The results have been compared between genders, age groups, and previous experience with AR. Potential benefits and disadvantages of AR experiences in the context of a museum exhibition were also gathered in free text from the visitors.