Whitepaper about Immersive Technologies in Tourism and state of the art application cases and best practices within the field of museums, art, destination marketing, virtual events and much more.
Extended Reality (XR) technologies—including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)—offer transformative opportunities for education by enabling immersive and interactive learning experiences. In this study, we employed a mixed-methods approach that combined systematic desk research with an expert member check to evaluate existing pedagogical frameworks for XR integration. We analyzed several established models (e.g., TPACK, TIM, SAMR, CAMIL, and DigCompEdu) to assess their strengths and limitations in addressing the unique competencies required for XRsupported teaching. Our results indicate that, while these models offer valuable insights into technology integration, they often fall short in specifying XR-specific competencies. Consequently, we extended the DigCompEdu framework by identifying and refining concrete building blocks for teacher professionalization in XR. The conclusions drawn from this research underscore the necessity for targeted professional development that equips educators with the practical skills needed to effectively implement XR in diverse educational settings, thereby providing actionable strategies for fostering digital innovation in teaching and learning.
MULTIFILE
The concept of immersion has been widely used for the design and evaluation of user experiences. Augmented, virtual and mixed-reality environments have further sparked the discussion of immersive user experiences and underlying requirements. However, a clear definition and agreement on design criteria of immersive experiences remains debated, creating challenges to advancing our understanding of immersive experiences and how these can be designed. Based on a multidisciplinary Delphi approach, this study provides a uniform definition of immersive experiences and identifies key criteria for the design and staging thereof. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes – transition into/out of the environment, in-experience user control, environment design, user context relatedness, and user openness and motivation, that emphasise the coherency in the user-environment interaction in the immersive experience. The study proposes an immersive experience framework as a guideline for industry practitioners, outlining key design criteria for four distinct facilitators of immersive experiences–systems, spatial, empathic/social, and narrative/sequential immersion. Further research is proposed using the immersive experience framework to investigate the hierarchy of user senses to optimise experiences that blend physical and digital environments and to study triggered, desired and undesired effects on user attitude and behaviour.
MULTIFILE
This project addresses the critical issue of staff shortages and training inefficiencies in the hospitality industry, particularly focusing on the hotel sector. It connects with the urgent need for innovative, and effective training solutions to equip (inexperienced) staff with hospitality skills, thereby improving service quality and sustainable career prospects in the hotel industry. The project develops and tests immersive technologies (augmented and virtual reality, AR/VR) tailored to meet specific training needs of hotels. Traditional training methods such as personal trainings, seminars, and written manuals are proving inadequate in terms of learning effectiveness and job readiness, leading to high working pressure and poor staff well-being. This project aims to break this cycle by co-creating immersive training methods that promise to be more engaging and effective. Hotelschool The Hague has initiated steps in this direction by exploring AR and VR technologies for hotel staff training. This project builds on these efforts, aiming to develop accessible, immersive training tools specifically designed for the hotel sector. Specifically, this project aims to explore the effectiveness of these immersive trainings, an aspect largely overlooked in the rapid development of immersive technology solutions. The central research question is: How do immersive AR and VR training methods impact job readiness and learning effectiveness in the hotel sector? The one-year KIEM project period involves co-creating, implementing, and evaluating immersive training in collaboration with Hotelschool The Hague and Hyatt Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht Hotel in real-life settings. The partnership with Warp Industries, a leader in immersive technology, is crucial for the project’s success. Our findings will be co-created and multiplied through relevant sector associations such as House of Hospitality. This project aligns with the MV’s Impact Level 1: Transitions by promoting innovative training strategies that can lead to a fundamental shift in the hospitality industry, thereby enhancing social earning capacities.
The IMPULS-2020 project DIGIREAL (BUas, 2021) aims to significantly strengthen BUAS’ Research and Development (R&D) on Digital Realities for the benefit of innovation in our sectoral industries. The project will furthermore help BUas to position itself in the emerging innovation ecosystems on Human Interaction, AI and Interactive Technologies. The pandemic has had a tremendous negative impact on BUas industrial sectors of research: Tourism, Leisure and Events, Hospitality and Facility, Built Environment and Logistics. Our partner industries are in great need of innovative responses to the crises. Data, AI combined with Interactive and Immersive Technologies (Games, VR/AR) can provide a partial solution, in line with the key-enabling technologies of the Smart Industry agenda. DIGIREAL builds upon our well-established expertise and capacity in entertainment and serious games and digital media (VR/AR). It furthermore strengthens our initial plans to venture into Data and Applied AI. Digital Realities offer great opportunities for sectoral industry research and innovation, such as experience measurement in Leisure and Hospitality, data-driven decision-making for (sustainable) tourism, geo-data simulations for Logistics and Digital Twins for Spatial Planning. Although BUas already has successful R&D projects in these areas, the synergy can and should significantly be improved. We propose a coherent one-year Impuls funded package to develop (in 2021): 1. A multi-year R&D program on Digital Realities, that leads to, 2. Strategic R&D proposals, in particular a SPRONG/sleuteltechnologie proposal; 3. Partnerships in the regional and national innovation ecosystem, in particular Mind Labs and Data Development Lab (DDL); 4. A shared Digital Realities Lab infrastructure, in particular hardware/software/peopleware for Augmented and Mixed Reality; 5. Leadership, support and operational capacity to achieve and support the above. The proposal presents a work program and management structure, with external partners in an advisory role.
Nieuwsmedia experimenteren steeds meer met nieuwe verhaaltechnieken, zoals 360-graden-video, augmented reality en virtual reality, om het publiek bij het verhaal te betrekken. Wij onderzoeken de journalistieke toegevoegde waarde en de impact op het publiek van deze nieuwe journalistieke producties.Doel Mediaorganisaties experimenteren met nieuwe technieken om verhalen te vertellen. Ze gebruiken 360-graden video, augmented reality (AR) en virtual reality (VR) om de gebruiker het verhaal te laten zien en voelen. Het opgaan in een verhaal noemen we immersiviteit. Maar werken die technieken voor immersiviteit ook echt? Vergroot het daarmee de emotionele betrokkenheid bij het verhaal? En wat betekent dit vervolgens voor de informatievoorziening aan het publiek? Resultaten Aan de hand van een interdisciplinaire literatuurstudie is een conceptueel model ontwikkelt, dat duidelijk maakt dat immersieve journalistiek meer is dan alleen de technologie. Het draait ook om de mate waarin de gebruiker kan interacteren in het verhaal en de mate waarin de gebruiker participant of toeschouwer is in het verhaal. Echter, uit een inhoudsanalyse van 200 producties in veertien landen en 15 interviews met makers bleek dat veel producties technologie-gedreven zijn, en amper de mogelijkheid bieden om het verhaal te ervaren als interactieve participant. Wat is het effect op de gebruiker? Aan de hand van vier experimenten onder 350 gebruikers en vier focusgroepen blijkt het tegenovergestelde van wat journalisten produceren. Niet zo zeer de technologie, maar de gebruiker als interactieve participant zorgen ervoor dat de gebruiker zich meer betrokken voelt bij het verhaal en meer empathie heeft voor het onderwerp. Het verhaal blijft daarmee beter hangen. Deze inzichten zijn door vertaald in concrete tools die toegepast worden bij nieuwsorganisaties en opleidingen die bezig zijn met immersieve journalistiek Looptijd 01 februari 2018 - 01 februari 2022 Aanpak Dit onderzoek is multi-methodisch. Eerst is een inhoudsanalyse van 200 immersieve journalistieke producties in veertien gedaan waarin het conceptuele model hebben getest. Vervolgens zijn 15 interviews gehouden met makers van immersieve producties. Daarna is het effect van immersiviteit op het publiek gemeten en zijn vier experimenten uitgevoerd onder 350 gebruikers. Daarbij is ook hartslag en huidgeleiding bij 50 mensen gemeten. Tot slot, zijn vier focusgroepen uitgevoerd. Meer informatie over het project vind je op: https://immersivejournalism.journalismlab.nl https://immersievejournalistiek.journalismlab.nl Wetenschappelijke paper over dit project Bekijk ook ons blogs op journalismlab.nl Dit project is genomineerd voor de RAAK-award 2020.
