A Comparison of Gamified, Immersive VR Curation Methods for Enhanced Presence and Human-Computer Interaction in Digital Humanities

Abstract

Gamification of virtual reality (VR) experiences is a topic of research that has been particularly intensified with the advent or recent VR h/w, such as, low-cost, high field-of-view head-mounted displays (HMDs). The main novelty of this work lies in the investigation and comparison of different s/w human-computer interaction methodologies for real-time VR simulation of both tangible and intangible digital heritage sites and the creation of dedicated, immersive, gamified curation experiences. Important conclusions are drawn since for the first time, VR is finally becoming a mass consumer product that will be delivering more and more convincing interactive experiences with elevated feeling of Presence for Digital Humanities. Based on recent specific software 3D platforms and 3D content creation pipelines, digital heritage environments can benefit immensely from such versatile, efficient and robust prototyping VR human-computer interaction methodologies.