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A user experience perspective on heritage tourism in the metaverse: Empirical evidence and design dilemmas for VR

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  • Jeff Baker

    (American University of Sharjah)

  • Kichan Nam

    (American University of Sharjah)

  • Christopher S. Dutt

    (Al Rayyan International University College)

Abstract

The tourism industry will be shaped by the growth and development of the metaverse in the coming decades. Virtual reality (VR) will enable the creation of virtual worlds, avatars, digital twins, and new social networks. These technologies can be utilized in tourism to enable travelers to preview real-world experiences, to enhance experiences while on-site, to relive experiences after travel, or in some cases to even substitute for travel. Given the metaverse’s transformative potential, empirical investigation of VR is clearly warranted. Studies of VR tourism typically choose a single specific VR application and investigate its impact on adoption or user satisfaction. This application-level focus is a significant limitation. We therefore evaluate multiple heritage tourism applications as well as VR hardware in a comprehensive and structured analysis from the user experience (UX) perspective. Our content analysis of user interviews reveals 13 factors that shape users’ overall perceptions about VR. These factors are grouped into categories related to presentation of the VR content, the content itself, and the functionality of the hardware and software. Our analysis also reveals three design dilemmas for creators of VR heritage tourism content for the metaverse. Implications and an agenda for future research are included.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeff Baker & Kichan Nam & Christopher S. Dutt, 2023. "A user experience perspective on heritage tourism in the metaverse: Empirical evidence and design dilemmas for VR," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 265-306, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infott:v:25:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s40558-023-00256-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40558-023-00256-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Guttentag, Daniel A., 2010. "Virtual reality: Applications and implications for tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 637-651.
    2. Pantano, Eleonora & Servidio, Rocco, 2012. "Modeling innovative points of sales through virtual and immersive technologies," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 279-286.
    3. Won-jun Lee & Yong Hee Kim, 2021. "Does VR Tourism Enhance Users’ Experience?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Biqiang Liu & Anna Kralj & Brent Moyle & Yaoqi Li, 2024. "Developing 360-degree stimuli for virtual tourism research: a five-step mixed measures procedure," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 485-519, September.
    2. Rahman, Syed Mahmudur & Chowdhury, Noman H. & Bowden, Jana Lay-Hwa & Carlson, Jamie, 2025. "Metaverse platform attributes and customer experience measurement," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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