BRINGING HERITAGE SITES TO LIFE FOR VISITORS: TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This article aims to explore the ways in which heritage sites can bebrought to life for visitors through immersive experience, andattempts to build a conceptual framework. It is based on amultidisciplinary project carried out by scholars of differentbackgrounds, which means that it relied more on knowledge andexpertise sharing, rather than statistical data, even though afurther research on consumer behaviour is planned. In heritagesites, the tangible aspects enable first-hand experience with thephenomena, providing a strong sense of reality. On the otherhand, intangible aspects, which can be felt and evoked through themedium of heritage, are equally important. The sense of place isgenerated by those feelings and the meaning as a product ofinterpretation obtained by first hand experiences as well as anykind of medium. Getting sense of place is based on physicalfeatures making the place special or unique, stories and memoriesabiding connection to the place, as well as the spirituality orspectral aspects also called as hauntings. The essence of heritageinterpretation lies in bringing the meaning to the surface as a resultof cultural interfaces and engagements with our environment. Theconceptual framework is threefold tackling withphenomenological, narrative and semantic levels of exploration,storytelling and meaning making. This article helps to elucidate the nascent field of immersive heritage exploring the experience(physical vs. virtual), the narratives (content vs. context) and themeaning (interpretation vs. action). In doing so, it suggests theways in which immersive heritage can build up meaningfulrelationships in understanding and valuing heritage sites whileenriching our experience through the absent presence between thephysical and imaginary worlds.