Colliding epistemologies, productive tensions and usable pasts in the generation of heritage-led immersive experiences

ABSTRACT

The growth of immersive technologies offers new ways in which heritage can be made usable. Virtual, augmented and mixed reality experiences are the latest media forms through which historical narratives can be told and heritage experienced. There are many challenges to create experiences which engage users in a meaningful way from the origination stage, through design and content creation to delivery, all of which bring together practitioners from disparate fields. Drawing on the concept of usable pasts, this article examines how disciplinary differences create tensions, challenges and productive outcomes in the generation and design of immersive experiences intending to take heritages out of museums to allow publics to experience them within the built environment. We draw on Brown and Knopp’s approach of productive tensions and colliding epistemologies which helps highlight and understand the constraints and opportunities of cross-disciplinary work in the creation of usable pasts. Through our exploration of how to develop a design methodology for producing heritage-led immersive experiences we argue for the importance of understanding the philosophical approaches used by different stakeholders in the design process, highlight the importance of non-digital technologies and discuss how practical issues can produce ontological clashes.

KEYWORDS:

• Usable pasts – immersive technology – heritage – built environment – epistemologies

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the support of our funders the AHRC and EPSRC (project number AH/R010137/1). Our partners Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and FaulknerBrowns Architects provided incredible insight and support from the inception of the project, through to its development and execution. Thanks to Paul Griffin for literature suggestions. Finally, we’d like to thank the participants who gave up their time to take part in interviews and workshops. Without their innovative and enthusiastic engagement the research would not have been possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Samuel identifies the diminishment of biographers, antiquarians, local historians and collectors of oral histories by some historians.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [AH/R010137/1].

Notes on contributors

Jon Swords

Jon Swords is a research fellow in the Department of Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media at the University of York. Jon is an economic geographer with research interests in relation to the geographies of the creative industries and visual methodologies.

Claire Nally

Claire Nally is an associate professor at Northumbria University with an interest in modern and contemporary literature, engaging with Neo-Victorianism and Irish Studies.

Kay Rogage

Kay Rogage is a Research Fellow in Digital Living and member of Northumbria University's BIM Academy Research Team. Her work spans computer science and the built environment.

Richard Watson

Richard Watson is a senior research fellow in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at Northumbria University with an interest in building information modelling.

James Charlton

James Charlton is a senior lecturer in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at Northumbria University with interests in 3D visualisation and performance analysis within Architecture.

David Kirk

David Kirk is a professor at Open Lab at Newcastle University with research interests in user experience and human-centred design.