Ninth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

Engaging in natural language discourse with historical figures in virtual reality supports an immersive, interactive experience that showcase time-dependent perspectives of cultural heritage. The inspiration to research virtual heritage was brought about by an unexpected encounter with historical artifacts concealed among the mountains of Hakodate in Hokkaido, Japan. The context is Unbeaten Tracks in Japan; an account of Isabella Bird’s journey from Yokohama to Hokkaido in 1878 which delivered illuminating perspectives on the lives of rural Japanese. She witnessed economic hardship, with families living in impoverished conditions, lacking medical facilities and formal education. The subsequent design of a 19th-century Japanese town as a virtual heritage environment was developed with considerations for interaction, immersion, user participation and photorealism. To motivate users to explore the virtual heritage environment 3D models of a hat, a compass, a map, a bag and a book were located throughout the town, each accompanied by a chalkboard displaying a question related to 19th-century Japan. Three AI Non-player Characters were created: Isabella Bird (a British female explorer), Yukichi Fukuzawa (the founder of Keio University), and Takayoshi Kido (an influential statesman during the Meiji Restoration). Each character was carefully developed with core descriptions, motivations, identities, personalities, emotions and historical knowledge to automatically respond to spoken questions, specifically assisting users in their search for information related to 19th-century Japan. The impact of communicating with the AI non-player characters in virtual reality is analyzed from observational data in order to determine the efficacy of virtual heritage in reimagining people and places.