Immersive Biography: Supporting Intercultural Empathy and Understanding for Displaced Cultural Objects in Virtual Reality

Research Background and Problem

• Problem or Challenge: Museums worldwide house numerous cultural artifacts that have been relocated due to historical reasons. These artifacts embody complex historical, social, and cultural connections between their source communities and host communities. However, fostering a deeper understanding of these relocated cultural artifacts and promoting cross-cultural empathy remains a challenge.
• Significance: Relocated cultural artifacts not only reflect cultural differences but also serve as mediums for promoting cross-cultural exchange. Understanding these artifacts can deepen recognition of their originating cultures and contribute to exploring global cultural dialogue.
• Research Motivation and Related Work:
  • Motivation: Traditional museum displays are constrained by physical space, limiting their ability to fully convey the lifecycle and cross-cultural significance of relocated cultural artifacts. New technologies can address these limitations.
  • Related Work: This study develops an immersive interactive system based on virtual reality (VR), employing the "biography" of cultural artifacts and role-playing methods to enhance cross-cultural empathy and understanding.

Solution

• Method and Innovation Description:

  • Proposes an immersive VR "biography" method that fosters cross-cultural empathy through user embodiment and interaction with anthropomorphized cultural artifacts.
  • Artistically brings relocated cultural artifacts "to life" through historical biography presentations and personalized interactions, showcasing their multifaceted significance, such as artistic value, historical memory, and cultural uniqueness.

• Implementation Steps and Technology:

  • Core Scene Design:
    1. Scene 1: Role Immersion—Participants embody Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies through a mirror, experiencing its identity from a first-person perspective;
    2. Scene 2: Exhibition Dialogue—Simulates a British Museum exhibition environment, enabling dialogue with artifacts from diverse cultural backgrounds to explore historical migration processes and cultural differences;
    3. Scene 3: Restoration Connection—Participants engage in virtual restoration activities to deepen their understanding and reflection on cultural artifact preservation.
  • Technical Implementation:
    • Developed using Unity3D, combined with HTC Vive Pro2 headset and SteamVR plugin to simulate an immersive interactive environment.
    • Designed task-based storytelling with multi-sensory interactions (e.g., voice dialogue, visual displays, and physical interactions) to enhance user experience.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Outcomes:

  • A total of 24 participants from diverse cultural backgrounds (including source and non-source communities) participated in the experiment. Questionnaire and interview data were used to evaluate the effectiveness of VR in enhancing cross-cultural empathy.
  • Experimental results demonstrate that the cultural artifact biography and interactive design in VR effectively promoted participants' empathy and understanding of relocated cultural artifacts.

• Advantages and Improvements:

  • Advantages:
    • Compared to traditional exhibitions, the system significantly enhances participants' sense of immersion and identification, with non-source community participants showing richer emotional responses.
    • Anthropomorphized user embodiment and dialogue interaction enhance immersion, making it easier for participants to understand cultural differences and historical contexts.
  • Limitations:
    • The complexity of VR interactions may pose challenges for participants unfamiliar with VR.
    • The system relies heavily on textual content, which could be optimized in its presentation.
    • The sample size is limited to 24 participants, with insufficient diversity in non-source community cultural backgrounds.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • Quantitative Analysis: Questionnaire results indicate that both source and non-source community participants improved in cross-cultural empathy and understanding. Non-source community participants exhibited stronger emotional responses, such as "sadness" and "irony."
  • Qualitative Analysis: Interviews reveal that emotional reactions and cognitive shifts work together, enabling participants to reinterpret artifacts from a personal perspective and understand cultural and historical differences. Simulated dialogue scenarios proved to be powerful tools for fostering cross-cultural empathy.

• Future Directions:

  • Expand the sample size to include more diverse cultural backgrounds and further explore the impact of cultural differences on interaction outcomes.
  • Improve the system's interactive interface and user operation experience to enhance fluidity and immersion.
  • Add more scenario simulations and content presentation mechanisms, particularly focusing on understanding mechanisms for non-source community cultures.

This study successfully developed a cross-cultural experience system for cultural artifact biographies using virtual reality technology, promoting a transformative perception of relocated cultural artifacts and advancing global cultural exchange. Future research could extend this approach to a wider variety of cultural artifacts and global collaborative scenarios, further optimizing pathways for fostering cross-cultural understanding and empathy.