360° Virtual Tours and Storytelling for Inclusive and Accessible Educational Museum Paths
摘要
How can museums foster inclusivity and ensure their collections are accessible? This paper outlines part of an ongoing doctoral research project at the National Roman Museum (MNR) in Rome, Italy. Firstly, the concepts of inclusivity and accessibility will be discussed. Secondly, it will be examined how Virtual Reality (VR) and Digital Storytelling (DST) can enhance inclusive education and address the communication needs of the MNR. Thirdly, three 360° virtual tours of the MNR will be introduced. These tours incorporate a digital storytelling (DST) approach, facilitating the sharing of experiences and knowledge and promoting embodiment. Groups of participants involved in the experimental phase of the research collaborate to create stories that will be featured in the museum’s 360° virtual tours. The final products are built in Delightex and aim to be highly accessible and autism-friendly, providing multiple communication channels to minimize barriers to access. Users can navigate the virtual environment, select narrative content available for immersive reading, interact with 3D virtual replicas of artifacts, and control the accompanying music. The completed tours will be freely available to everyone on the official museum website. Throughout the experimental phase, it is assessed whether participants’ skills in the 4 C’s (i.e., Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity), as well as their digital skills, well-being, and perceived social inclusion, are enhanced through their active involvement in the project. More details on methodology and quantitative and qualitative data will be provided in the paper.