Unintended Outcomes – VR, Heritage and User Engagement
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 12/10/2020

This paper will discuss the ad hoc deployment of an archaeologically informed Virtual Real-ity research project, Longhouse VR, as a semi-permanent exhibit at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology (MOA). Originally intended as an exploration of the intersection of technology and archaeology, speaking specifically to the archaeological community, the research project’s aims  were  primarily  around  the  construction  of  new  archaeological  knowledge  through  the  3D making process. The platform for interactivity was an HTC Vive VR headset and gaming engine, allowing for real-time user engagement, immersion and limited interactivity. As it was never intended for public use, notions of user engagement were secondary to the display and new knowledge creation of the archaeological record. We will explore the means in which the MOA has now physically deployed the Longhouse VR experience and technology, symbolically repatriating museum space from an outdated post-colonial exhibition environment. Further, af-ter almost a year of deployment, over 1800 Indigenous and non-Indigenous users have engaged with Longhouse VR in addition to the post-experience qualitative survey, providing a unique window  into  the  unintended  outcomes  of  non-archaeological  user  engagement.      Benefiting  from the substantive user interaction, Longhouse VR is now being remodeled, to better support and address the needs and desires of the public and more importantly, the descendant Indig-enous communities. This paper offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate how unintended outcomes  can  have  a  direct  influence  on  User  Experience  Design  and  the  intentionality  and  communication needed to balance agency, authenticity, authority, and transparency of heritage informed digital media experiences.


William Michael Carter, Rhonda Bathurst, William Ciaran Lim-Carter