Heritage values, digital storytelling, and heritage communication: the exploration of cultural heritage sites in virtual environments

ABSTRACT

Cultural heritage communication (CHCom) refers to the transfer of values that underlie heritage attributes and settings to intended audiences. Emerging digital storytelling approaches combined with advanced technologies can advance the dissemination and interpretation of information on heritage sites, particularly the intangible values essential to conveying the multifaceted complexity of sites in virtual environments. However, the holistic integration of layered heritage values into digital storytelling in heritage experience design for virtual environments remains underexplored. The present study therefore examined value-based digital storytelling as an effective CHCom method and the improvement of visitors’ recognition and contextualization of heritage values. To this end, the research addressed the communication of the diverse sociocultural significance of Seonamsa Temple of Korea as the venue of interest. The findings suggest that value-based digital storytelling helps reveal interconnected sociocultural values beyond built environments and supports the formulation of strategies for deepening visitors’ heritage interpretation.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital storytelling
• heritage values
• cultural heritage communication
• cultural heritage sites
• virtual reality

Acknowledgement

We would like to express our gratitude to the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea for their cooperation and support in producing Seonamsa’s 3D data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology under Grant [Project No. N11200092].

Notes on contributors

Hyeseung Shim

Hyeseung Shim is a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Culture Technology in KAIST. She holds an MA in Cultural Heritage Studies and an MSc in Culture Technology. Before KAIST, with a decade of professional experience at the prestigious cultural organizations such as UNESCO World Heritage Centre, she specialized in project management and capacity-building for the scientific conservation and rehabilitation of World Heritage properties in Asia-Pacific region. Her research interests centre on the intersection of digital technologies and cultural heritage interpretation. She currently focuses on heritage communication in human–computer interaction, data analysis using AI on the promotion of World Heritage sites and museums, and convergence studies on cultural policies.

Kyung Taek Oh

Kyung Taek Oh is a PhD student at the Graduate School of Culture Technology in KAIST. He has a BA in History of Art and an MSc in Culture Technology. He was involved in multiple digital humanities projects at UC Berkeley, where he played a significant role in designing the database structures for historical artworks and documents. His current research interests include cultural analytics and 3D documentation within the domain of art history. He applies an interdisciplinary approach to explore novel ways to examine the visual cultures of digitized art and heritage, especially using mixed reality technologies.

Conor O’Malley

Conor O’Malley is a former student at the Graduate School of Culture Technology in KAIST. He holds a BA in Education. Prior to joining KAST, he served as an American FabLab Fellow, who specialized in digital media creation, at the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in the Republic of Korea from 2018 to 2020. He was involved in multiple virtual museum projects and played a significant role in developing strategies for student education.

Ji Young Jun

Ji Young Jun is a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Culture Technology in KAIST. She holds a BA in Art History and an MSc in Culture Technology. Her research interests focus on digital art history and experimental aesthetics.

Chung-Kon Shi

Chung-Kon Shi, Ph.D. is a professor at the School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences and Graduate School of Culture Technology at KAIST. He is interested mainly in linguistic systems and digital communication. He focuses on interdisciplinary research, especially language and text analysis, digital communication, and new storytelling media.