Immersive Technology for Sustainable Development in the Climate Crises

Description of impact

Emergent and Immersive technology offer opportunity to enrich the way we learn, live and prosper. The ostentatious for democratic access to technologies which empower communities to define their understanding if the past, meet the challenges of the present and shape their future. Researching how virtual museum technology can empower communities to use virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to address sustainable development. Through examples in heritage, medicine and climate action impact is achieved addressing sustainable development goals including, quality education, health and well being, sustainable communities and climate action. Virtual museum technology enables widespread use both geographical and sectoral, whilst supporting profound immersive engagement, immersive learning and deep transformative experiences.

Who is affected

2. Underpinning research (indicative maximum 500 words)
Underpinning research falls into understanding the relationship between technology and learning, understanding the changing technological landscape and how this mights on learning. Understanding the ways that virtual museums can be developed to make technology more accessible, democratic and easy to use:
1. Utilising domain research into context and background, to facilitate authentic representation.
2. Efficient creation, connection and collection of domain relevant content, to create corpus.
3. Extending experiential learning, through simulating places remote in time, place or access.
4. Building capacity of stakeholders through design, training and community development.
5. Content Reuse in multiple contexts: anytime anywhere, in the landscape, immersive experience.
6. System Dissemination through connecting with wider digital ecosystems such as ECCCN.
7. Effective evaluation addressing user transformations, user experience, and system performance.
A use lead research methodology has enabled iterative development of virtual museum systems, leveraging growing experience and technology developments. This facilitated the design of holistic approaches which enable connection of heritage to community museums, community with related sustainable development goals and targets,
Research started focussed on heritage, developing digital collections and galleries with community museums through the EU LAC museums project. It extending to immersive experience with museum/embedded exhibits enabling virtual time travel enhancing the museum experience and a Virtual Museum Without Walls extending museum experience into the hinterland. Through the CUPIDO project capacity building aimed at heritage practitioners, supported the creation of Museum at Home experiences.
Throughout a Virtual Museum Infrastructure (VMI) was being designed which provides ingest and egress to a digital archive. Metadata based upon the European Data Model, brings together, tangible, intangible, cultural and natural,/movable and immovable heritage within the same archive. It facilitates connection wit digital representations of heritage, Heritage items are connected with Cultural Landscapes. This structure enables an holistic approach to be supported emphasising the connections between heritage subjects, as well as with place and community.
The archive system supports for reuse, within International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF galleries, as well as Leaflet connected OpenStreet maps and web based virtual tours. Content can be connected with immersive exhibits, mobile Apps and VR headsets. Support for reuse across multiple use contexts and platforms, contributes to sustainability.
The Virtual Museum Infrastructure provides support for the Virtual Museum to exist as part of a wider Eco system. It makes resources discoverable through a Resource Description Framework (RDF). Programming agains Apis sports creation of Wikis, as well Zenodo, Google Maps and linking with distributed IIIF repositories.
This infrastructure supports widespread deployment of exhibits in Museums, on the web for access at home and on mobile devices for access in the field. ‘Tis in turn provides both intense transformational educational experience with personalised interactive engagement.
The approach has been extended to support stake holders related to Cerebral Visual Impairment. Through enabling carers to experience Virtual Reality representations of CVI they are better able to appreciate what isn’t like and to modify their actions and environment appropriately.
The same technology is being used to address psychological distance from Climate Change. Through enabling virtual experience of the impacts of climate change, in the future and in remote locations, climate action can be encouraged.
Taken together this research enables emergent mobile and immersive technologies to be more effectively utilised to address sustainable development. This includes quality education enable social cohesion, and inclusion through deepening sense of place. Contributing to sustainable communities through encouraging tourism and enablement of heritage. Contributing to health and wellbeing through empower CVI /carers and more widely by contributing to cohesion. Raising awareness of climate change through simulating impacts of climate change allowing virtual experiences to contribute to overcoming psychological distance.

Narrative

This research archives impact by empowering stakeholders to use emergent mobile and immersive technologies to contribute to the United Nations Agenda 2030, its goals and targets. These include: SDG Wellness and Wellbeing, SDG 4 Quality Education, SDG Sustainable Communities and SDG 14 Climate Action.
The University of St Andrews has worked in partnership with many stakeholders to address these targets these include museums such as the Timespan, the West Highland Museum and Finlaggan Trust, community organisations such as Smart History CiC, CVI Scotland and Eriskay History Society, SMEs such as Speyside Wildlife and Teleport, as well as local authorities, schools and professional associations. Direct stakeholders include heritage practitioners, teachers, community groups, medial professionals, carers, tourist associations and tourists. Wider stakeholders include anyone who has an interest in peace, prosperity and the future welfare of our planet.
The rigour of the approach has been achieved by applying a tertiary practice led methodology to explore how best to achieve change. This iterative and reflexive methodology. Furthermore, the work builds on the Seville principles, paying attention to the application of interdisciplinarity, authenticity, and efficiency. Interdisciplinarity means the rigour of multiple disciplines including archaeology, history, medical expertise, social science, museology, computer science and human computer interaction. This methodology facilitates the creation of outputs that are authentic
The reach of engagement is achieved through empowering stakeholders to engage in the digital domain\ by supporting reuse across platforms and contexts and working with museums and community organisations. Engagement is summarised by the reach both with respect to the number of locations and communities connected with and to the extent to which the whole community is engaged with.
Corpus typesNumberReach, ViewsTypes
3D Objects60050,000nature, carving, pottery, clothing, weapons,
Reconstructions85200,000Landscapes, buildings, monuments
360 photos100025,000,000Landscapes, buildings, monuments
Videos1000300,000Interviews, fly thoroughs, objects
Figure 3 Digital Heritage Corpus The reach of impact has been facilitated by the Virtual Museum Infrastructure which connects digital content with metadata and supports its deployment across multiple platforms and contexts. Applications include immersive exhibits, embedded in museums, online museum at home content as well as providing interpretation in the landscape. Exhibits embedded in museums, include immersive virtual reality, touch screen experiences and virtual reality headsets. Museum at home exhibits include Virtual Reality Tours, Interactive maps and digital galleries as stand alone resources or integrated into web applications.
There are permanent digital exhibits in many museums including Skriduklauster, Timespan Museum, Tomintoul Museum, West Highland Museum, Scottish Sea Bird Centre, Eyemouth Museum, Finlaggan Museum, Museum of Islay Life, Highlanders Museum, Abernethy Museum and Kirkcaldy Old Kirk. These have a combined annual visitor count of over 300,000 visitors. Evaluation shows these exhibits, encourage visitors to museum, support intergenerational engagement and stimulate further interest in their topics. Visitors include, local schools, and community groups as well as tourists. Contributing to social cohesion and to the local economy.
Exhibit typesNumberReach, ViewsExamples
Digitally Enhanced Museum
Immersive50050,000Clearances, Fort William, Illicit Still,
Touch Screen20040000Highlanders Museum, St Kilda, Orkney North Isles
Museum Guide10In applications
Virtual Museums Without Walls
VR2010000St Andrews Cathedral, Clearances
AR55000Glasgow Green
Trail1020000Whithorn, Strath of Kildonan, Medieval St Andrews
Museum at Home
Virtual Tour4050000North Uist, Tacumen, Unst,
Digital Gallery4520000IIIF, Museum Nord, Seixal, Barbados
Interactive Map2525,000,000Open Street Maps, Google
The Virtual Museum infrastructure facilitates reuse of digital context in multiple scenarios and across multiple platforms. Consequently, the same digital content is used to enhance visits to a museum, exploration of the surrounding landscape and provision of Virtual Museum at home experiences. These are supported through virtual reality headsets, mobile devices and touchscreens.
Summary of media and applications supported by Virtual Museum Infrastructure
Through embedding digital content and applications within museums, they are part of permanent organisations with an educational mission, that are embedded within communities. This enables connection with community organisations, and schools as well as facilitating connection with associated diaspora and visitors to the museum.
The transformational nature of the impact is routed in the ability of immersive and mobile technologies as communication tools that can deepen understanding and thereby influence behaviour of individuals, organisations and the wider society.
AS NEMO note the EULAC project shows that “By leveraging digital tools and bi-regional knowledge exchanges, the project enhances the educational and societal role of museums, connecting diverse communities and fostering mutual understanding.”
Impact is demonstrated through evolution of the technology. Starting with a single exhibit in 2012, spreading to multiple exhibits across Scotland, and then further through European projects. Virtual Museums developed to support reuse across multiple context and platforms multiply the impact of content and applications developed. Embedding applications in museums, enable connection with community, schools and tourism, thus contributing to social cohesion and social. Engagement through two consortium for the HERITALISE, CULTURALITY and 4CH 3D project demonstrate that the success of OVW technology was core to developing consortium and obtaining funds to extend the approach across Europe. Through working with Europeana, the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage and the Common European Data Space for Cultural Heritage, which in turn provide the opportunity for further impact in Europe and Globally.

Impact status	Open
Impact date	1 Mar 2021 → 1 Dec 2028
Category of impact	Technology, Cultural, Creative Impact, Environmental Impact, Educational Impact (Beyond St Andrews)
Impact level	Involvement - mid or active stage