Developing effective interfaces for cultural heritage 3D immersive environments

Although the advantages of the use of 3D Immersive Virtual Environments for the presentation and communication of Cultural Heritage have been demonstrated, the user interfaces and interaction techniques (in software and hardware) that are best suited have not yet been completely identified and deployed. This paper describes research conducted for developing and studying the usability of a historical town 3D Virtual Tour. For this, usability methods combined with head-eyetracking technology were used to explore the suitability of these interfaces. The paper also reflects on issues raised during the design of the testing system for this experience. It is expected the results of this research will contribute towards developing effective interfaces for 3D immersive technologies as well as building a repository of lessons learned from evaluation.