Over the past decades, 360-degree virtual tours have been used to provide the public access to accurate representations of cultural heritage sites and museums. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a rise in the popularity of virtual tours as a means of engaging with locations remotely and has raised an interesting question: How could we use such experiences to bring the public closer to locations that are otherwise unreachable in real life or not considered to be tourist destinations? In this study, we examine the effectiveness of promoting engagement with a city through the virtual presentation of unknown and possibly also inaccessible points of interest through a 360-degree panoramic virtual tour. The evaluation of the experience with 31 users through an online questionnaire confirms its potential to spark curiosity, promote engagement, foster reflection, and motivate users to explore the location and its attractions at their leisure, thus enabling them to experience it from their personal point of view. The outcomes highlight the need for further research to explore this potential and identify best practices for virtual experience design.

In comparison with a traditional museum, an “ecomuseum” is radically different: It is not housed in a building and does not have a collection of physical objects or artifacts. It aims to help visitors discover the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of a region through the identification of important points of interest (POIs), while offering a variety of activities and direct engagement with the region’s cultural identity. The diversity and amount of information that may be available through digital means highlight the need for supporting the visitor in selecting which POIs to visit by offering personalized content. In this paper, we present our approach for a recommendation system for an ecomuseum, through its application in the city of Eleusis, Greece. We present the approach from needs to implementation, as well as the results of a preliminary evaluation, showing promising results for its application as an engaging visitor experience for an ecomuseum. We conclude the paper with a wider discussion about personalization in this context and in a cultural heritage context in general.

Tabletop role playing games (TRPGs) offer players the possibility to create and enact the actions of a character in a fictional game world, guided by a human “game master” (GM). The GM is the storyteller and facilitator who co-creates dynamically the world with the players. In this sense, creativity is a key aspect of TRPGs, both for the players and the GMs, confirmed by a number of existing studies. In this work we focus on the perspective of the GMs on creativity through a user study with 17 participants. They provide feedback on different aspects of creativity as expressed while preparing or executing a story. Our results, among others, highlight the importance of the creative aspects of the game for the GMs as motivation for assuming this role as well as their view of the game as a dynamic co-creation process where the player group dynamics are also a key factor.

This research article introduces a virtual reality (VR) experience designed as a “memoryscape” to immerse users in the life and work of Nikos Skalkottas, a significant yet relatively unknown Greek composer of the 20th century. The VR experience integrates archival material, such as Nikos Skalkottas’s compositions, personal letters, and photographs, along with fictional snippets of the composer’s thoughts and memories, to engage users in an interactive journey through his reconstructed memories of 1930’s Berlin. The VR experience has been the focus of a user study with 37 participants, aiming to assess the effectiveness of the experience to promote a deeper connection with the archival material and the composer’s life and work. The study employed a mixed-method approach, with pre- and post-experience questionnaires and interviews. The outcomes revealed a positive attitude towards the VR experience, with participants expressing enjoyment, curiosity, and a sense of immersion. Users particularly enjoyed interacting with the virtual environment and appreciated its aesthetic quality. While the experience evoked historical empathy, helping users learn new aspects of the composer’s life and work, it had a limited impact on their perception of his music, especially for those who had no prior familiarity. Overall, the VR experience was effective in introducing users to Nikos Skalkottas and his world. Its immersive nature sparked curiosity and interest among the participants, providing a unique opportunity for users to engage with classical music history in an innovative and engaging way.