Abstract
Immersive virtual environments represent a great opportunity for museums to enhance visitor experience through edutainment. To provide an enjoyable experience for all people, including those with disabilities, virtual museums should respond to criteria of accessibility and inclusion, providing cultural equality and learning opportunities for all. To achieve this goal, there is a need to evolve into a user-centered approach where people are involved in co-designing the virtual museum experience. After a description of the theoretical framework used to define self-determination, the paper describes the importance of structuring a research context that fosters the self-advocacy of people with intellectual disabilities, and expands the procedure to support the creation of accessible museum captions, thanks to the application of Easy-to-Read guidelines. A pilot study conducted at the University of Macerata has been carried out to test the proposed method. Specifically, we are going to explore the possibility of using high-fidelity prototyping, within a virtual lab, to support co-design activities with people with intellectual disabilities useful to support design requirement definition, to ensure the accessibility of immersive solutions for museums. The results obtained suggest the importance and implications of a co-design approach in defining design requirements to ensure accessibility of immersive virtual reality applications for cultural heritage.
Presenters
Noemi Del BiancoPhD, Education, University of Macerata, Italy Karrie Shogren
Professor/Director, Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities, University of Kansas, United States Catia Giaconi
Professor, Education, University of Macerata, Italy Silvia Ceccacci
Researcher, Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy Ilaria D'angelo
PhD Student, Education, University of Macerata, Italy
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2023 Special Focus—Museum Transformations: Pathways to Community Engagement
KEYWORDS
Immersive Virtual Reality, Inclusive Museum, Self-determination, People With Intellectual Disabilities
