The influence of context on learning in a social VR historical fashion exhibition

Social museums constantly search for new ways to satisfy and educate their visitors. One of the most important elements to success in those objectives is good exhibition design. It can be achieved by incorporating context, which is proven to improve understanding of exhibits and knowledge retention, and enhance the overall experience of the museum visit. While context is known to shape visitor experience in physical museums, its role in virtual reality museums remains underexplored, despite the flexibility in environment manipulation allowing for further adjustments. Moreover, social VR experiences allow for social interactions, which are crucial for the visitors' satisfaction and further improve their learning outcomes. In this study, we design and implement a social VR fashion exhibition, which we evaluate in a real museum setting during a three-day event attended primarily by cultural heritage professionals. We also conduct a between-subject user study (N=56) with a varied group of end-users to explore the influence of context on users' learning, experience, and sociality in social VR exhibitions. To do that, we design two exhibition rooms with identical exhibits and information: one providing historical context through the surrounding environment (objects and style) without adding extra explicit knowledge, and one neutral without the contextually adjusted environment. During experiments, we collect quantitative data from questionnaire results, behavioral data, and qualitative insights through semi-structured interviews. The results show that when the context fits the exhibits, the participants' learning and experience improve. These results bring knowledge for future social VR exhibition designers on how to approach environment design in their projects.

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