1. Evaluation of virtual tour in an online museum: Exhibition of Architecture of the Forbidden City
- Author
-
Jia Li, Jin-Wei Nie, and Jing Ye
- Subjects
Questionnaires ,Man-Computer Interface ,Computer and Information Sciences ,Research Facilities ,Science ,Culture ,Social Sciences ,Museum Collections ,Research and Analysis Methods ,Computer Architecture ,Human Learning ,User-Computer Interface ,Learning and Memory ,Electronics Engineering ,Mathematical and Statistical Techniques ,Sociology ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Architecture ,Learning ,Psychology ,Humans ,Computer Engineering ,Computer Networks ,Statistical Methods ,Internet ,Multidisciplinary ,Survey Research ,Museums ,Statistics ,Cognitive Psychology ,Virtual Reality ,Biology and Life Sciences ,Consumer Behavior ,Research Design ,Physical Sciences ,Medicine ,Cognitive Science ,Engineering and Technology ,Exhibitions as Topic ,Factor Analysis ,Mathematics ,Research Article ,Neuroscience ,User Interfaces - Abstract
Online virtual museum tours combine museum authority and an academic approach with the diversity and interactivity of online resources; such tours have become an essential resource for online scientific research and education. Many important museums around the world are developing this type of online service. Comprehensive evaluation of such tours is, however, urgently needed to ensure effectiveness. This paper establishes a heuristic evaluation scale based on the literature. Taking the online virtual tour of the Exhibition of Architecture of the Forbidden City as a case study, confirmatory factor analysis was then carried out to improve the scale. Interviews were conducted to discuss and analyze the research results. The developed evaluation scale has four dimensions: authenticity, interaction, navigation, and learning. The results from the case study showed, first, that the exhibition had visual authenticity, but the behavioral authenticity was insufficient; second, the exhibition was generally interactive, but this aspect could be improved by enriching the links; third, the lack of effective navigation design for the exhibit was the main factor affecting experience quality. Fourth, the exhibition was informative and supported learning, but needs further improvement to the quantity and quality of information provided. Finally, the interviews revealed that the online exhibition did not entirely support people of different ages and abilities, so it needs further improvement to be wholly inclusive.
- Published
- 2022