Digging through the Virtual Sand of Time: Development and Evaluation of Hetepheres Tomb VR
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Date
2025
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Eurographics Association
Abstract
Less than 100 meters from the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza lies the tomb of Queen Hetepheres I. 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of its discovery, a milestone that is likely to draw renewed attention to this relatively unknown archaeological site. To share the story of the tomb's excavation and the mysteries surrounding it with a broader audience, we developed the virtual reality experience Hetepheres Tomb VR. In this paper, we present the didactic concept behind the experience, along with practical implementation strategies designed to ensure maximum user-friendliness and minimize motion sickness. To evaluate the effectiveness of these design choices, we conducted a user study, the results of which are discussed in detail. These findings also informed subsequent optimizations of the application. With this work, we aim to provide museum-related VR projects - particularly those in the conceptual phase - with insights into our development process. We hope to offer both guidance and inspiration for creating engaging, accessible virtual experiences. Hetepheres Tomb VR is currently available for free on Steam and the Meta Quest app store, making it suitable for use in educational settings and museum exhibitions.
Description
CCS Concepts: Applied computing → Interactive learning environments; Media arts; Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in HCI
@inproceedings{10.2312:dh.20253247,
booktitle = {Digital Heritage},
editor = {Campana, Stefano and Ferdani, Daniele and Graf, Holger and Guidi, Gabriele and Hegarty, Zackary and Pescarin, Sofia and Remondino, Fabio},
title = {{Digging through the Virtual Sand of Time: Development and Evaluation of Hetepheres Tomb VR}},
author = {Körner, Kevin and Dreiling, Luca and Manuelian, Peter Der},
year = {2025},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association},
ISBN = {978-3-03868-277-6},
DOI = {10.2312/dh.20253247}
}