Striking a Balance: Ethical and Methodological Challenges in Virtual Reality Experience Design for Cultural Heritage Applications

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Leveling Up: Gaming and Game Design in Archaeological Education and Outreach" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Virtual reality is a valuable tool for public engagement and education, offering an immersive platform for the exploration of archaeological and cultural heritage landscapes. While not a gaming endeavor, cultural heritage VR draws from 3D gaming technologies and techniques to create the platform at the heart of immersive experiences. However, designing such experiences poses unique challenges due to the sensitive nature of the subject. Our project, Canyon Country Cultural Landscapes VR, aims to provide visitors to Bears Ears National Monument and its surroundings opportunities to delve into the region’s rich cultural heritage and material culture. The project combines landscape-scale 3D environments with content from Indigenous communities, conservationists, land managers, and archaeologists to educate users about the history, fragility, and contemporary significance of these landscapes, all while emphasizing proper site visitation ethics. To achieve these goals, we must strike a balance between guiding users through the experience, conveying essential information in a nonlinear fashion and respecting the subject and descendant communities’ cultural sensitivities. This presentation explores the challenges and solutions encountered during the project’s development. It sheds light on the distinct considerations involved in creating collaborative cultural heritage VR applications, offering insights into the compromises and innovations shaping these efforts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Leveling Up: Gaming and Game Design in Archaeological Education and Outreach   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39830.0