Enhancing User and Visitor Experience Through Virtual Reality: A Research on the Agora of Smyrna

Abstract

This study, grounded in the theoretical frameworks of the experience economy and new museology, investigates the relationship between user experience (UX) in immersive virtual environments and visitor experience in cultural heritage settings. It focuses on the Smyrna Agora Virtual Reality Application, created for an ancient Hellenistic-Roman site and developed under the "Heritage Alive" project (2022) by the & Idot;zmir Association for the Protection and Development of Urban Values, with support from the T.C. Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the European Union. The research evaluates nine UX dimensions: presence, immersion, engagement, flow, skill, emotion, judgment, experience consequence, and technology adoption. The primary aim is to examine how these dimensions affect the visitor experience and whether outcomes differ based on participants' prior use of VR or visits to the heritage site. A quantitative design was adopted, with surveys administered to 140 undergraduate students aged 18-25 after their VR engagement. The instruments used were adapted from two validated UX and visitor experience scales. Results show a strong, positive correlation between UX and visitor experience. However, previous VR familiarity or prior visits to the site did not significantly influence participants' responses.