Virtual tours of museums and galleries are becoming an increasingly common aspect of e-Tourism marketing. This paper reports on a usability pilot study that analyses the design of icons in a German ...3-D virtual art gallery interface. It evaluates the extent to which a sample of typical computer users can interpret the meaning of icons from the interface taken 'out of context'. This was done by assessing a sample of twenty-one icons representing the 'action', 'information' and 'navigation' functions. An Icon Intuitiveness Test (IIT) was used to measure their Icon Recognition Rate (IRR) and to classify them as 'identifiable', 'mediocre' or 'vague' according to an adapted stereotypy. The IIT results show that the meaning of almost 30% of the icons was misinterpreted or confused, which can seriously compromise the usability of an interface. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for icon redesign and replacement and it is concluded that further research is needed into the 'learnability' of icons and users' understanding of icons in context. It is contended that increased usability leading to an improved user experience can have an economic impact on e- tourism.
This chapter explores how Jass Easterman (the author's avatar name) teaches education students concurrently, both pre-service teachers and postgraduate, in Second Life. It discusses how a virtual ...world can be a valuable teaching and learning tool for the whole group even though they have a variety of overall goals and learning outcomes. Jass brings distant university students located around the world studying at the one institution together to liaise with each other in Second Life. She has created an innovative tutorial model where students go on virtual tours, visit other educational institutions, attend guest lectures, undertake role play activities, and go on Web quests and learn basic building and scripting skills, all from their own homes. Adult learning theories and communities of practice, in a virtual world, underpin all activities. Why Second Life was chosen for these students and what the students say about this type of learning are discussed in this chapter. The value of this tutorial model will be explored and reflected upon and conclusions made of its efficacy.
In this paper authors give the definition of the virtual tourism, identify the problem of transforming sociocultural activities and describe development of new forms of communication within the ...framework of the museum tourist activities, reflecting current trends in social evolution. Problems of the influence of globalization and the informatization of society on the development of museum activities are also analyzed. Virtual 3d model of the Kotor Maritime Museum is shown as an example of a new communicative form, where a virtual tour is considered as a form of the effective organization of a museum activity process in the tourist practice of the museum.
Mobile tourism application using augmented reality Safitri, Riri; Yusra, Deska Setiawan; Hermawan, Denny ...
2017 5th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management (CITSM),
2017-Aug.
Conference Proceeding
Indonesia as an archipelagic country that has diverse cultures and beautiful natures. This is some factor towing the arrival of tourists to visit Indonesia. Today many tourists from abroad and even ...from within their own country do not know the beauty of natures and cultures in Indonesia. Therefore, this research have been done to build an android application called "Exploresia" to provide information about tourism in Indonesia using Augmented Reality technology. This research begins with collecting data of tourism and cultures in 34 provinces in Indonesia. These data was processed into text, 2D image, 3D objects and video and displayed virtually through a mobile application. Users can interact with this mobile application by selecting province, sights and explore the object with 360 virtual tours. As a trigger for displaying virtual data, made a map of Indonesia as a marker and also coordinates to display the virtual data. Exploresia has been tested to 50 respondents from different segmentation to see how much influence of this app to attract tourist come to Indonesia. 93.6% of respondents agree that Exploresia provides a new way to get information on tourism in Indonesia and 96% of respondents agree that this mobile app help to promote tourism destinations in Indonesia so that tourists be interested in coming to Indonesia. The use of AR in mobile apps is expected to provide added value so that user can receive the message delivered and keen to visit Indonesia.
This paper focuses on the knowledge of the different tools to develop software based on mobile technologies that incorporate the use of geographic information systems capable of generating ...interactive maps that allow for the location of tourist sites, virtual tours places located on maps and incorporating augmented reality technology to enhance the information provided to visitors who attend these places, and also highlight the importance of these tools for the tourism industry and development in the region.
An innovative approach for enhancing college courses using virtual worlds was developed to raise the students' level of engagement, promote critical thinking, and meet pedagogical objectives. ...Reaching to a new level of teaching delivery, this approach involves conducting tours of rich and exciting virtual world venues and assigning students' reflective assignments during and after the tour. In this chapter, the procedures for conducting virtual educational tours are presented, descriptions of explored virtual demonstrations and simulations are provided, findings from the learning experiences are discussed, and students' reactions to the technologies based on comprehensive surveys are shared. Furthermore, key lessons learned and recommended teaching strategies are provided and future plans for application of cutting-edge technologies to education are described.
Qatar is located in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. The country possesses many magnificent historical and archaeological sites which are the common heritage and history of the Arab and Muslim ...people. However, a little of these sites are known to Qatari new generations, tourists and new residents in the country. Umm Salal Mohammed, a ruin of a 19 th Century Fort, Qalit Marir Fortress (Al Zubara) are just some of those important sites 7. At Al Khor monuments archaeologists found artifacts from the Islamic Period (900-1400). By asking some people selected randomly from different malls and shop centers in Qatar, the majority ignore completely the existence of these archeological sites. Therefore, we must not allow these extraordinary monuments to sink into oblivion. We aim in this work to build an interactive web portal ensuring that Qatari antiquities are known to the majority of inhabitants and international tourists. The portal introduces the ancient history of Qatar to the world and will attract many new visitors and tourists. A content management system is used to develop the portal and manage its contents. A virtual tour software is used to develop virtual tours about the ancient Qatari sites. These interactive tours are deployed online through the Web portal and available to the Internet Surfers. An informative question-answer tool about these sites is also developed and deployed online.
I hope this short, informal, navigational tour of the Leskernick Project web site will be useful to others who are considering electronic publication of archaeological and anthropological field ...research. This is not to suggest that it ought to stand as some kind of model: it is exemplary of nothing more than a continued experimentation with the form of this particular medium. As always, such tours - in real as well as virtual worlds - provide ample opportunity for digression. Indeed, it is often the tour guide's unscripted aside that proves to be the most interesting detail. With apologies to Internet Archaeology for jumping in and out of a neat format, I propose that this article be read in parallel with pages from the Leskernick site (click on the embedded screen-shots to open the corresponding web pages in a separate window). I shall not repeat information provided there; merely comment upon it. Pursuing the metaphor, it will be a tour in which passengers are occasionally required to pile out of the coach, wander around a bit and then, hopefully, find their way back to the coach park before the next leg. In this instance, you have the pleasure of driving the coach too - clicking on the embedded screen shots will open the corresponding pages of the Leskernick site in a separate browser window.
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