Interpreting digital heritage: Considering the end user's perspective

Abstract

Present virtual heritage projects are mostly focused either on 'process' or 'product' but rarely consider 'user' (end user's perception of the content) with project contents predominantly developed with an 'ocular-centric' tendency. There is no significant interpretation method or principles for interpreting digital heritage unlike other disciplines such as archaeology. This paper argues that, for better interpretation and experience of a digital heritage site, a comprehensive interpretation method is required, which should address multicultural background of end-users and overcome the linearity and subjectiveness in content creation. This paper also argues that instead of pre-determined instructional sequences or descriptive interpretation, the interaction setting can be participatory and contributive, where the visitor and environment may interplay mutually with each other. As a methodology, 'Interpretation' is first conceptualized by assimilating definitions from heritage scholars and organizations. Notions of interpretation-practice and level of interaction were identified from reviewing some online digital heritage projects. By identifying weaknesses, this paper finally proposes a few suggestions for overcoming and possibly developing a comprehensive interpretation method for future digital heritage projects. ©2010, Association for Research in Computer-Aided Architectural Research in Asia (CAADRIA).