Virtual Reality (VR) and Cultural Heritage: Learning Kowloon Walled City From a VR Experience

This research project explores the use of Virtual Reality (VR) to reconstruct lost historical sites to preserve tangible and intangible heritages with the goal of fostering cultural knowledge to the public. This paper describes the design and development of a VR application for cultural learning in exhibitions and museums and aims to identify the advantages and challenges of using VR as a learning tool. Maintaining authenticity, high level of realism and ease of use were the three main focuses in the development of this application. While user tests revealed that these focuses were still insufficient to create an effective and engaging VR learning experience, further improvements can be made by integrating storytelling elements and virtual characters into the content design and conducting further comprehensive user research.