Entering the Artwork : The Effect of Virtual Reality Affordances on Art Interpretation

Abstract: The employment of virtual reality (VR) in the cultural heritage context has been recognized as a new trend shaping the way audiences interact with museums. This research explores the effect of VR experience on art interpretation through an audience reception analysis of two VR exhibitions: Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass and Dreams of Dalí. An ethnographic method was used, i.e., semi-structured interviews with 10 participants served to understand how audiences react to VR. Hall’s encoding/decoding model and Norman’s concept of affordances were employed to determine whether, and in what way, decoding of the VR affordances affects the interpretation of the presented art. First, the results showed that all five previously identified affordances (immersion, presence, empathy, embodiment and usability) are existent in the VR exhibitions. Space perception as an additional affordance has been identified, including seclusion as an anti-affordance specific to VR exhibitions. Second, the results of the conducted interviews’ analysis show proportionality between the VR affordances and interpretation, i.e., the preferred reading of the artwork. In most cases, the stronger the affordances are, the stronger the comprehension, and the more positive the evaluation. Empathy affordance has demonstrated to be the strongest indicator of a preferred interpretation since it is proportionate to the evaluation of all 10 interviewees. These results have implications both in and outside the cultural heritage context – VR employs unconventional and persuasive modes of communicating; it encourages creative, more inclusive, and tacit learning.