ISSN 2057-519X (Online) KEYNOTE PAPER: VIRTUAL & AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGIES FOR APPLICATIONS IN CULTURAL HERITAGE: A HUMAN FACTORS PERSPECTIVE

After three decades of “technology push”, Human Factors design techniques and processes are finally being applied to applications of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR, AR) in such sectors as defence, engineering, transportation, medicine and scientific visualisation. However, the importance of Human Factors, or human-centred design, is yet to impact significantly on the Virtual Heritage sector, especially given the recent emergence of new VR and AR technologies, where a preoccupation with unproven and often unreliable examples of “immersive” technologies is already resulting in costly, unusable “interactive” systems. This is unsatisfactory, especially as Virtual Heritage must, out of necessity, engage with individuals from all walks of life, especially those who possess valuable personal recollections or material resources. Furthermore, these are also individuals whose knowledge, skills and abilities must be taken into account from the outset, as these factors are of fundamental importance to the design of usable and meaningful interactive media. Using three recent examples involving VR and AR technologies, this paper sets out to emphasise just some of the key human issues involved in the Human Factors life cycle, from concept to delivery, underpinning the delivery of future interactive systems for Virtual Heritage, including the importance of what may be termed “Heritage on my Doorstep” in overcoming end user anxiety or low self-efficacy in using “hightech” human interfaces.