1 Deliverable BMI Methodology Workbook Version 2 – English Version Foreword This version 2 of the workbook for business model innovation for heritage sites is an expanded version of V1 presented in October 2019. It is now complete and up-to-date. However, it should be noted that the delays encountered in testing the VISTA-AR solutions, both on the test sites and on the deployment sites, have not made it possible to write as substantial a content as we would have liked for Phase 3, particularly for the case studies presented in the appendices. In the absence of observation of the implementation of the innovations, the lessons we were able to draw from them were indeed limited. Depending on the future progress of the project, and on the evolution of covid-related circumstances in particular, we are hoping it will be possible to enrich the guide in a later version with elements relating to the experiments.
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Deliverable BMI Methodology Workbook
Version 2 – English Version
Foreword
This version 2 of the workbook for business model innovation for heritage sites is an expanded version
of V1 presented in October 2019. It is now complete and up-to-date.
However, it should be noted that the delays encountered in testing the VISTA-AR solutions, both on
the test sites and on the deployment sites, have not made it possible to write as substantial a content
as we would have liked for Phase 3, particularly for the case studies presented in the appendices. In
the absence of observation of the implementation of the innovations, the lessons we were able to
draw from them were indeed limited.
Depending on the future progress of the project, and on the evolution of covid-related circumstances
in particular, we are hoping it will be possible to enrich the guide in a later version with elements
Appendix 1. Case study: Exeter Cathedral ............................................................................................ 76
Appendix 2. Case study: Château de Fougères ..................................................................................... 77
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Foreword
This Workbook is a product of the VISTA AR (Visitor experience Innovation through Systematic
Text Analytics and Augmented Reality) project. The VISTA AR project is an EU-funded Interreg
France Channel England cross-channel research collaboration between eight different
partners. The project is led by the University of Exeter, with other partners including the
Brittany Regional Council, the Fougères municipality, Bournemouth University, Centre des
Etudes Supérieures Industrielles, NEOMA Business School, Ecole Européenne Supérieure d'Art
de Bretagne, and Exeter Cathedral.
The project’s key experimentation sites are Exeter Cathedral and the Chateau de Fougères.
Other deployment sites include Slapton Sands (South West Coast Path) and Botallack Mines
(the National Trust) in the UK, and Valloires Gardens and Lorient Underwater Museum in
France.
Whilst a key output of the project is to research and deliver high-tech solutions at low cost for
cultural heritage sites in the UK and France, the partnership’s strength lies in its focus on
Business Model Innovation (BMI), helping small and medium heritage sites better understand
their visitors and design creative engagement opportunities to ultimately increase their
revenue. This workbook presents the methodology developed for assisting cultural heritage
sites in the innovation process, specifically in introducing digital interpretation devices to their
visitor experience.
The VISTA AR BMI workbook is structured in three main phases pertaining to the process of
innovation. Phase 1 refers to analysis of current business model of the cultural heritage site.
Phase 2 focuses on the design and development of digital technologies for visitor experience.
Phase 3 is about evaluating the performance of the new business model. An introductory
Phase 0 includes basic definitions and rationales to guide the reader throughout the
innovation process.
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PHASE 0: Introduction
0.1. Getting started with VISTA AR
Thank you for signing up for the VISTA AR programme.
You wish to enhance your visitor experience by including digital mediation tools. Are you
motivated to increase the number of visitors to your site? Do you wish to increase your site’s
visibility and image and make it more appealing? Or perhaps raise the admission fee and global
revenue? In all cases, this workbook aims to help you achieve your objectives and maximize
the impact and relevance of your innovation through a number of stages.
In this introduction, you will find all the essential information you need to launch your project
to transform your visitor experience using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
technologies.
This workbook will guide you through all the different steps of the innovation process.
0.2. Transform your Business model
What is a business model (BM)? Why is this approach interesting for heritage sites who want
to introduce AR-VR technologies to their visitor experience?
The concept of business model1 allows you to think about how the heritage site:
- Creates value for visitors
- Organises itself to produce this value
- Benefits from the value it creates
The advantage of this approach is that you will adopt an overall, integrated view of the many
transformations necessary at each of these three levels simultaneously. It will maximise your
chances of successfully introducing AR/VR technology to the visitor experience.
The concept of BM is a valuable analytical tool in that it enables you to break down your site’s
proposition into a number of patterns that coherently tie together value proposition, creation,
and capture. It is likely that you will identify several BMs within the same site, and once you
1 The most widespread definition of the concept of Business Model is: “design or architecture of the value
creation, delivery, and capture mechanisms” (Teece, 2010, p. 172).
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have considered them separately for analytical purposes (which this workbook will assist you
in doing), you will have to decide on what to do with the multiplicity of business models in a
pragmatic way – how many BMs are there? Are there too many, making the process too
complex? Can you anticipate synergies or shared aspects?
0.2.1. Virtual and augmented reality: innovation is more than just the technology!
Innovating is not just about the introduction of virtual and augmented reality technology to
the visitor experience. You will also have to change the way the site operates, and sometimes
its strategy.
It is not sufficient to only think about technological innovation for the heritage site. The ability
to transform the site’s operations and strategy while introducing the new technologies is
crucial.
Thus, in addition to developing the technologies and introducing them to visitors, you also
have to think about:
- What services the technology will be providing, and for what kinds of visitor segment
- The story the technology will tell
- The organisation (activities and resources) required for the site to offer this service
- the mechanisms by which the site will benefit from the service
The Business Model (BM) wheel shows all the different dimensions of the heritage site
operation.
Value proposition
Storytelling
Mediation tools
Delivery/operations
Value capture
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Each of these components can be illustrated using a few key questions.
Dimension Key questions
Value proposition
- What service are you offering? - What value proposition* are you making to visitors with this service? - Who are your current visitors? What is the profile of the visitors you hope to reach?
Storytelling - What heritage features will the technology illustrate? - What story will you be telling the target audience?
Mediation (AR/VR technologies)
- What mediation tools does the Cultural Heritage Site (CHS) use to tell its story? - What technologies will you be using to provide this service?
Delivery/ operations
- What activities and procedures will be necessary to provide the service? - What resources will be necessary to implement these activities and procedures? - What material and immaterial features/constraints does the site offer with regard to enhancing the visit using technology?
Value capture - What mechanisms will be required for the heritage site to capture the desired value (financial, political, reputation, visitor satisfaction, etc.)?
Each of the terms followed by an asterisk is defined in the box below.
Definitions
The value proposition is the value that the heritage site promises
to provide for its visitors. Visitor experience corresponds to what
the visitors actually experience, both on the site and during their
contacts with the site before and after their visit.
Innovating with AR/VR technologies requires both technological and organisational
innovation based on a coherent combination of the five dimensions of the Business Model.
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0.2.2. “Coherence”: the keyword for Business models
Since a heritage site’s BM needs to balance its five different dimensions, any change to one of
them, such as the introduction of new technologies, requires you to rethink the whole of the
BM wheel to ensure its coherence (EXAMPLE 1).
When the heritage site targets several types of visitors, the coherence between all the site’s
BMs must also be reconsidered (EXAMPLE 2).
Definition
The business model is defined for a single value proposition,
most often targeting a single type of client2. This means that
the site needs as many wheels as the different types of clients
it targets.
EXAMPLE 1: Coherence between the components of the BM
Let us take the example of a medieval castle. The pathways are uneven in places, and
therefore difficult to access for those with reduced mobility and for families with pushchairs
(Constraints of the site).
The manager of this site has chosen to provide virtual tours of the site, or at least of those
parts that are difficult to access, for all visitors, and particularly those for whom parts of the
traditional visit are inaccessible (Service/Target). The objective is to make the heritage visit
available to as many people as possible, particularly because the castle has obtained a label
for which this is a key objective (Expected benefits).
The idea is thus to install virtual reality headsets (technology) in a room on the ground floor
of the castle, providing an aerial tour showing the whole of the heritage site, and then a tour
of the rooms that are difficult to access on foot (heritage content highlighted).
However, this room is located some distance away from the castle entrance where the
accompanying staff work. It will thus be necessary to recruit an additional staff member for
the VR room to provide visitors with headsets and assistance during opening hours
(Organisation of the site).
The different components of the BM wheel are interdependent: each decision taken with
regard to one of the components affects the others.
It is crucial to take into account the constraints of the heritage site and ensure the coherence
of the BM when considering changes to the visit.
EXAMPLE 2: Coherence between the heritage site’s different BMs
2 However, sometimes the same value proposition can benefit several types of clientele. This can be the case for an event: performance, European heritage days, etc.
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Let us imagine a heritage site with three groups of target customers: families, schoolchildren,
and tour groups. Since each target group has its own BM, the heritage site has a Global BM
comprising three target-group BMs (cf. diagram below).
For the site to operate correctly, the BMs for each group of target customers must be coherent
with each other. The site must align them as much as possible and avoid wasting resources
through overlaps.
Let us take the example of a garden, most of whose visitors, including its most loyal customers,
enjoy the tranquillity of the site (BM adults looking for tranquillity). The site’s manager notes
that very few families with teenage children visit the site, and would like to reach this target
(BM families with teenagers) using AR/VR technologies. The manager wants to install a
treasure hunt using a tablet with augmented reality content.
When considering the innovation, it is essential to think about the fact that attracting a new
audience using new technologies must not drive away traditional customers, unless you
wish to replace them entirely. We can indeed imagine that children running around and
playing in the garden looking for treasure might be detrimental to the peace and quiet other
visitors are looking for.
BMs do not necessarily compete with each other though. Indeed, it is possible to develop
synergies between two BMs. Let us take the example of a maritime museum that has
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developed a digital library of shipwrecks (digital model and related information). This library
can be a key resource for two different BMs, one aiming to offer individual visitors an
enhanced experience on-site through digital furniture they can interact with; the other
consisting of supporting school projects where museum staff can use the digital models to
teach historically significant shipwreck stories (e.g., the role of U-Boats in World War II) at a
distance (e.g., videoconference channel). The same key resource has been mutualized to
enable both of these BMs.
If you are targeting a single visitor segment with your AR/VR solution, but host other segments
at the same time, you must ensure that the changes you make to the BM wheel have as little
impact as possible on the other business models of your site.
In sum
Technology is only one of many aspects that ensure the BM operates
successfully.
The components must be combined logically to ensure the innovation is
successful, in the sense that:
- It provides value to visitors
- The organisation facilitates the value provision
- It generates value for the heritage site, depending on its objectives
The visitor experience is the main barometer for assessing the success of the
innovation.
0.3. Know your visitors better
0.3.1. Why is it important to consider the visitor experience?
The visitor experience describes the visitors’ actual perceptions of their visit. The satisfaction
that visitors gain from their experience substantially affects their future behaviour (intention
to revisit the site or recommend it to others, etc.). Thus, the reputation and appeal of a site
depend on positive visitor experiences. For this reason, understanding the visitor experience
is a powerful and essential part of your strategy.
Visitor satisfaction is generally measured via an overall score given by the visitors. However,
this does not give precise information about the experience, and does not inform the heritage
site about whether it has achieved its objectives, in terms of cultural mediation,
entertainment, etc.
It is important to understand the visitor experience as best as possible in order to act
effectively to meet the heritage site’s performance criteria.
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0.3.2. Put simply, what are the dimensions of the visitor experience?
The visitor experience comprises:
- several phases
The visitor experience goes well beyond the onsite experience. It begins before the visit, when
the visitor finds out about the site. During this phase, the visitor develops expectations that
the heritage site must ensure it fulfils. The experience also continues after the visit, through
memories, potential recommendations to friends and family, and an intention to return.
- several dimensions
The heart of the experience, during the visit, comprises eight components: four of them have
positive connotations and are called “the benefits of the experience”, while the other four
have negative connotations and are called “the costs of the experience”.
Benefits
Relational What I was able to share with other people (friends or strangers)
Hedonic What I liked, what amused me, etc.
Utilitarian What I learnt
Identity This visit corresponds to me, it is in line with who I am
Costs
Time The time the visit takes, travelling time
Monetary Entrance price
Energy The physical effort made (particularly at large sites that have to be fully visited, or in museums, where visitors spend a lot of time standing in one place but cannot sit down)
Psychological The intellectual effort made to understand the interpretation, the fact of feeling “not up to it” if the interpretation is too complicated
0.3.3. Why consider the experience?
To capture the aspects visitors experience as “irritating”: these aspects eradicate
the benefits of the visit or increase the costs disproportionately.
To identify ways of increasing the value captured: for example, it would be possible
to increase the relational value by including interactive games in the presentation, or
by adding more educational content to increase the utilitarian value.
In addition, since the experience is different for each type of visitor, it is important to identify
the irritants and increase the value for each audience. For example, teenagers are known to
seek stimulation (hedonic value) and a less verbal approach (psychological cost). It is essential
to understand the experience sought by each type of visitor if the site is to develop an
appropriate value proposition.
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0.3.4 A tool serving innovation at heritage sites
VISTA AR is in this way proposing a complete solution for the evaluation of the visitor
experience, each one of these dimensions being regularly updated. Data collected with these
tools can be used to gain a multi-dimensional picture of visitors, identify and segment target
groups, design immersive experiences, and explore new business models to capture additional
and increased revenue streams. The analysis will happen at different levels: that of the tourist
site, but also at the level of a group of comparable sites (e.g., ‘medieval forts’) or even at the
level of sites benefitting from the VISTA AR solution.
This guarantees that tourist sites seeking to transform their offer can do so on the basis of
relevant information, which will help them respond to key questions: which aspects of the
experience can/should be improved through technology? What type/segment of visitor
should the digital experience be designed for? Which business models can be
transformed/improved upon if necessary?
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0.4. About this workbook (user instructions)
This guide aims to support heritage site managers in the process of introducing innovative
AR/VR technologies. It follows through three main stages, all revolving around the BM wheel.
Remember that the goal during these three stages is to maintain, or even redesign, a logic
between the five components of the wheel.
- The first stage consists of defining your current BM to provide a starting point for your
reflection and innovation
- The second stage consists of designing the new BM, including the new AR/VR
technologies (which should also be defined during this stage)
- The final stage consists of testing the new BM defined during the previous stage. After
assessing its operation and its benefits, you will be able to make the necessary
adjustments to maximise its impact
For each of these stages, and for each of the components of the BM wheel, we propose a
series of key questions to ask, models, examples, and tips about implementing the new BM.
The main challenge of your BM innovation process is to ensure consistency between each
component and between each stage. The “Visitor journey table” (simplified version below)
will be a key tool for providing an integrated view of how your site works.
Visitor Journey Storytelling Mediation Delivery
Episode name and number, location, duration
Message/story, Point Of Interest (POI), Curation
Mediation interface, mediation technology, Media content, Trigger modality
Visitor actions, Staff actions (front and back office), resources
Finally, two case studies (Exeter Cathedral and Fougères Castle) are included in the appendix.
These offer in-depth examples of how the BMI methodology was applied at both sites, and
are meant to be used as supporting material to illustrate how the information presented in
this workbook can be applied in practice.
The lessons presented in this document are the result of the pooling of three sources of
information:
the experience acquired during the support for the digitisation of the VISTA AR
project's experimental sites
the study of other cultural and heritage sites which have already implemented digital
interpretation
knowledge of the academic literature linked to the inclusion of digital heritage
mediation devices in heritage sites, and to its impact on the experience of visitors and
on the business model of the sites
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PHASE 1. Analyse current BM
In order to develop innovative solutions it is necessary to understand what a cultural heritage
site (CHS) currently offers to visitors, who those visitors are, and the resources and operations
the site requires to provide a memorable experience. That is, understand the CHS processes
of value creation, value delivery, and value capture. The first step in the innovation process
therefore is to run a diagnosis of the site, forming a baseline on which the innovation will
build. Furthermore, a thorough knowledge of the current BM in its different components will
enable you to identify which areas are best suited to, and could be improved with, the
introduction of digital technology.
Phase 1 will take you through several aspects of analysis of current BMs, presenting examples,
tips, and templates to support you in the diagnosis of your own site. While the five dimensions
of the BMs are listed and numbered, in reality the process is not so linear. In fact, it is likely
you will go back and forth between dimensions as you progress. On another note, you may
choose to start with any given part you feel is more adequate for your site.
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1.1. Value proposition
One of the main arguments in favour of the introduction of AR/VR solutions at cultural and
heritage sites is the substantial improvement they bring to the visitor experience. But do we
always know exactly what the visitor experience is and what it is providing? Often sites only
have a piecemeal, outdated knowledge of their visitors. In order for new digital technologies
to achieve their full impact, you need to make sure that you have identified opportunities to
improve the visitor experience. VISTA AR aims to eliminate this difficulty by making knowledge
of visitors the cornerstone of technological innovation.
This section centres on cultural heritage sites’ value proposition, focusing on understanding
visitors and their experience. Key questions to consider are:
Who are the current visitors to the CHS?
What motivates them to visit the CHS?
What benefits do visitors gain from their visit?
To be able to answer these questions, you need to capture and analyse data of current visitors.
1.1.1. Evaluating the visitor experience
First of all, conceptually, this is about identifying the generic dimension of the visitor
experience to be able to produce an exhaustive report. Examples of visitor data include:
Demographic data: such as age, gender, education, and income. This tells us who the
visitors are.
Geographic data: such as postcode, nationality, and country of residence. This tells us
where visitors are from.
Psychographic data: such as motivations, interests, and attitudes. This tells us why
visitors choose to visit the site, what they come looking for.
Behaviour data, such as spatial behaviour, length of stay, size of visiting party, etc. This
tells us how visitors behave at the site, what they do and how they experience the site,
as well as what they gain from the experience.
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Having access to this breadth of visitor data provides an accessible way for you to gain a
comprehensive picture of the CHS visitor profiles and experience, and segment visitors into a
range of groups. Whilst traditional segmentation based on demographic or geographic data is
useful, there are many other aspects by which you can differentiate your visitors. The
particular context involving the visitor at the time of visit is relevant and may change
depending on circumstances. For instance, if someone is visiting in a group, their primary
motivation may be to spend some quality time with family or friends. If alone, the visitor may
be seeking to learn something particular about the site, or to take a break from their daily
routine and have a peaceful, contemplative experience. Furthermore, segmenting according
to spatial behaviour can also be useful. For instance, some visitors might tend to follow linear
routes through the galleries, while others may roam freely and cluster around specific exhibits.
Understanding your visitors at this level of detail enables you to develop new value
propositions specifically tailored to each segment, for example according to:
age group or visiting party – to offer experiences that are relevant to families with
children or senior couples
nationality – designing experiences that use references relevant to different cultural
backgrounds or explore links between the CHS and the visitor’s country of origin
visitor motivation – offering an experience that meets the interests of the visitor for
that particular visit
Choosing which segmentation model to apply will depend on each case. Regardless, it is
important to have access to as much visitor data as possible to open up opportunities for
exploring new value propositions.
1.1.2. Visitor intelligence toolbox
From a practical point of view, there are several tools that enable the collection and evaluation
of the visitor experience. VISTA has developed a visitor intelligence toolbox, comprising a
range of instruments to capture visitor data.
Visitor surveys
A questionnaire-based research instrument can be deployed at the start of the visit and
embedded within a digital interpretation device provided to visitors. This questionnaire
includes items to investigate visitors’ socio-demographic, geographic and motivational
attributes, as well as items related to the general context of the visit (see template below).
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Visitor profile (pre-visit questionnaire)
Data Dimensions Questions/items Measures
Socio-demographic
and geographic
Age
1. How old are you? Select one:
15 and under
16-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 and over
Gender
1. What is your gender? Select one:
Male
Female
Gender diverse
Country/Region of residence
1. What is your nationality?
(open question)
2. Do you currently live in this country or abroad?
Yes, please enter first part of your postcode
No, please state the country you have travelled from
Children in household
1. How many children live in your household?
(open question)
Marital status
1. Are you now married, widowed, divorced, separated, or have you never been married?
Select one:
Married
Widowed
Divorced
Separated
Never married
Education
1. What is the highest level of education you have completed?
Select one:
No qualifications
Level 2 (e.g., GCSE, O Level or equivalent, NVQ level 2, BTEC level 2)
Higher education Level 3 (e.g., As and A level, IB, NVQ level 3, BTEC level 3)
Higher education Level 4-5 (e.g., BTEC level 4, HNC/HND, Diploma of higher or further education)
Bachelor's degree or equivalent (e.g., BA, BSc, Graduate certificate/diploma, NVQ level 4, BTEC Advanced Professional award)
Entertainment I really enjoyed watching the activities on-site (e.g., musical performances, guided tours, shows).
Escapist I completely escaped from reality.
Outcomes
Arousal 1. How interesting was your visit? 2. How stimulating was your visit? 3. How exciting was your visit?
Rate between 1-5: 1. Extremely 2. Very 3. Moderately 4. Slightly 5. Not at all
Memory I will remember my visit to this CHS.
Rate between 1-7: 1. Strongly agree
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Outcomes (cont.)
Intention to revisit
I will visit this CHS again in the next few years. 2. Agree 3. Somewhat agree 4. Neither agree nor disagree 5. Somewhat disagree 6. Disagree 7. Strongly disagree
WOM I will speak positively about my visit to others.
Satisfaction
How would you rate your experience today?
1. Terrible 2. Poor 3. Satisfactory 4. Good 5. Excellent
In your own words, tell us about your experience of visiting this CHS today.
(open question)
Geospatial tracking
Geospatial technologies such as GPS and geofencing provide affordances for tracking visitors’
temporal and spatial behaviour. This may include capturing visitor pathways/trajectories as
well as dwell time in proximity to points of interest (POI). This data is collected automatically
by a tracker installed in the interpretation device used by visitors during their visit. The analysis
produces heatmaps for visual representation of areas with greatest activity and tracks
representing individual routes of visitation. This allows site managers to examine visitor dwell
times, identify congested areas of interest and understand the different patterns of navigating
the heritage site. It also provides insight into curatorial effectiveness with respect to POIs.
Visitor journey analysis allows for segmentation in terms of spatial behaviour and visiting
patterns. This can be enhanced with other data streams, for instance, comparing journey and
dwell time between different demographic or psychographic groups.
Natural language processing
Natural language processing is a tool employed to analyse and extract meaning from visitor
feedback. During the visit, visitors interact directly and indirectly with many aspects of the
site, e.g., members of staff, interpretative media available, facilities, among others, and often
mention these interactions where writing reviews of their experience. This type of visitor data
is unsolicited and represents the salient features of a site visit with respect to personal
experiences. These dimensions can be captured from feedback posted on digital platforms
(e.g., reviews left of sites such as Tripadvisor, Google Reviews, Twitter, etc) or from on-site
reviews left by visitors at the end of their visit in written form. Using a classification
framework, a sentiment analysis concerning broad positive or negative performance of each
interaction is produced. Further elaboration of this existing research is focused on aspect level
instances found within the text. Analysis of visitor feedback provides a constant source of data
that enriches the overall understanding of visitor experience.
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All this visitor data can be collected and analysed with the support of a device (e.g.,
smartphone or tablet), ensuring minimal interference on visitor experience, and site
managers’ active involvement in data collection/analysis is effortless. The option of VISTA AR
to provide the materials and devices necessary for capturing and analysing visitor data is also
a possibility. Nonetheless, you can explore these options and apply them in ways you see more
convenient for your site. For instance, while VISTA AR embeds visitor questionnaires in tablets
provided to visitors, it is also possible to administer the survey using paper-based
questionnaires.
In addition to the data collected with the VISTA AR toolbox, site managers should also consider
other sources of data that might be available. Data from Google Analytics of the site’s official
website usage or analytics of the site’s social media pages (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) can
complement visitor data collected on-site.
In the end, a central dashboard compiles and reports all data collected. Site managers are thus
able to consult and explore aspects of their visitors’ experience, gaining in-depth
understanding of what is working well and what aspects need improving.
Example: A cultural heritage site applies a broad segmentation of visitors informed by basic
demographic data. While this data offers insight about who the visitors are, managers are
lacking knowledge about how visitors visit the site. The site decided to run a geospatial
analysis of visitor journey with two groups of visitors (self-led visitors vs audio-guide users).
The findings reveal that visitors using the audio-guide are less likely to visit the cathedral shop,
meaning the site was missing out on revenue from potential sales. This led the site
management to rethink the audio-guide’s content and how it was delivered in a way to
stimulate visitors to walk through the shop.
1.1.3. Defining current Value Proposition
Once you have data on visitors, you can examine what it is they gain from the visit. A value
proposition explains why a visitor should want to take the time to visit the heritage site, and
usually takes the form of a clear and concise statement. To write one, you can focus on the
specific benefits visitors are looking to gain when they visit your site, and connect it with what
the site has to offer. For example, in the case of a cathedral, a value proposition could be a
chance to visit a local landmark or to escape from a busy city centre environment to
experience a moment of peace in a sacred place.
Moreover, the value proposition will be different for each audience segment. A person whose
ancestors worked in the mining industry may be willing to try out a virtual reality tour for a
glimpse into what their ancestors experienced while working in the mine in its heyday. Such
an experience can highlight their sense of identity and help them forge a connection with the
mining heritage (emotional motivation). On the other hand, someone who lacks this affective
link with industrial mines may also want have an interest in trying the same VR experience,
albeit in an attempt to have a better understanding of social aspects of the mining
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communities of the nineteenth century (educational motivation). In both cases, the
experience is the same (VR exhibit) but each group derives different value. Thus, a value
proposition can be formulated by thinking in terms of the results and benefits that visitors
gain from the experience.
Output of Phase 1 – VP: A visitor intelligence report, with synthetized evidence of different
data streams of visitor data collected. VP statement for current offer.
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1.2. Storytelling/Content
Before planning new digital experiences, and much like gathering visitor intelligence, it is
important to have a clear understanding of the heritage content of the site, that is: the overall
story it tells, the journeys available and the POIs used to support that storytelling and the
visitor journey.
In terms of storytelling and heritage content, key questions to consider are:
What heritage content does the CHS have to offer? How is it offered?
What story(ies) does the CHS currently tell?
1.2.1. Identify the CHS’s current story and points of interest
A cultural heritage site tells a general story, a message it conveys to its visitors and the general
public. Then, different journeys are available for visitors to explore specific aspects and
themes of the site. Each of these journeys anchor their narrative on a carefully selected range
of the site’s points of interest (POI). All this heritage content plays a key role in the design of
the value proposition.
Message The core message the site conveys and represents to the public.
Journey
A journey refers to the way visitors experience the site. A site can have a portfolio of journeys available to visitors, which can be fairly independent from each other. These are organised by theme or by segment, for example, thematic tours, audio guided tours, or family packs are all journeys.
Point of interest (POI)
A POI is any element of the site with a story to tell. It can be an artefact, architectural feature, thematic room, gallery, or space of interest in the site.
To create an inventory of the site’s POI, you can begin by analysing the content in all the
journeys currently offered to visitors. Examples of these are family packages, children
Output of Phase 1 – Mediation tools: A document stating your mediations tools, their
advantages and drawbacks. The table with the mediation tools columns for each visitor
journey currently offered.
Visitor journey
Storytelling Mediation
Episode number
Episode name
Location Duration (est.)
Mediation interface (sign, guide, tablet,
etc.)
Mediation technology
(where appropriate)
Media content (videos, pics, animation)
Trigger modality
(where appropriate)
# 1
# 2
# 3
# 4
# 5
# 6
# 7
No ...
29
1.4. Delivery
Production of your service offer
The aim is to identify all the activities and all the resources necessary to produce the services
you offer to your target customers.
How does your heritage site operate to provide the services offered to visitors? What activities
is the operation based on? What resources are mobilised?
1.4.1. Dissect the service using the Visitor Journey Table
NB: We advise you to fill in the “Storytelling” and “Mediation” sections
of the BM wheel before completing “Delivery”. This section requires
you to have completed the “visitor journey” table (results of the
previous two sections).
Definition
By services, we understand the realisation of your “value
proposition” in the form of services delivered to the target
customers. For example, the activity of welcoming visitors and
selling tickets is realised by human resources, while the
mediation activity can (for example) be realised by an audio
guide, which requires maintenance, which are realised by
internal human resources or external contractor.
The goal is to describe all the services proposed by your site, including temporary offerings
(events, European heritage day, etc.). For example, a botanic garden proposes different visits
according to the public (individuals, groups of students or groups of adults). Moreover, it has
multiples offerings beyond the classic garden visit: workshops (cooking with plants, caring for
specific kind of plants, etc.), shop with gardening tools, restaurant with menu using aromatic
plant and flowers, etc.
All these offerings refer to a wide range of resources and activities. Sometimes these are the
same, which allows pooling. Other times they are different and require specific operations.
For instance, a cook can lead a workshop on plants and cooking (for example); a sensory
journey (originally created for kids) can be used for family audience and for students groups.
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1.4.2. List the activities and resources necessary
The list of activities and resources necessary can be drawn up using a tool called the
“blueprint” (cf. diagram below), a tool which dissect the organization related to the value
proposition commonly used to analyse services.
Definition
The blueprint is a diagram representing the different stages of
a visitor journey, and the inputs (resources and activities)
necessary to deliver the experience proposed by the
organisation.
The advantage of the blueprint is that it enables you to see your organisation through the eyes
of the visitor. It consists of a description of the organisation following a step-by-step of the
visitor journey and indicating at each stage the necessary organisational inputs, in terms of
contact and back-office staff.
Thus, you will consider the visitor journeys in your existing BMs, and for each of them you will
identify the different stages. Based on the tangibles/material features your identified in
Storytelling section, you need to determine what the tourists do, what the contact personnel
do (where applicable) and what the back-office staff do (including the management of
partners, if applicable).
Physical evidences (signage, racks of equipment, etc.)
Points of interest / stops on the visitor path
Tourists’ actions (experience, usage, etc.)
Actions of back-office staff (management, logistics, etc.)
Actions of contact staff
Time
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Key questions to develop the blueprint are:
Ultimately, developing your blueprint will enable you to identify the key components of your
current organisation for each of your BMs. This will provide you with a useful basis on which
to anticipate the organisational changes that may be required for your new business model.
We advise you to use the visitor journey table, and to fill the delivery columns (below).
Output of Phase 1 – Delivery: A document stating your delivery operations for each value
proposition. The table with the delivery columns for each visitor journey currently offered.
1.5. Value Capture
What do we mean by value capture? Why is it important?
Value capture is concerned with whether or not a business model works commercially. Where
a value proposition looks at the value offered by a Business Model (BM) to a particular
What are the stages of the
visitor journey in your BM?
What does the visitor
do? (resources
and activities)
Does a contact staff member do something? (resources
and activities)
Does a back-office staff
member do something? (resources
and activities)
Visitor Journey Storytelling Mediation Delivery
Episode number
Visitor actions (if any)
Staff actions (front office)
Staff actions (back office)
Resources
32
customer group, value capture is about the value you, as a Cultural Heritage Site (CHS), gain
from the delivery of that BM. In essence, assessing its financial viability.
Of course, what constitutes value in cultural heritage is not simply financial, it is often more
complex than that. The activities performed and the services offered by CHS are frequently
not driven by market forces but by social, societal and cultural purposes. Often pricing is free
or, where entrance fees are charged, they are nominal and do not relate to the true cost of
providing the service or maintaining buildings and assets.
Recognising that profit maximisation is not the only, or the primary, objective in designing the
BM, business models that include virtual and augmented reality technologies require
substantial investment and so information regarding financial and commercial viability is an
important part of the innovation process.
As with any measure of financial viability, value capture looks at two key elements – income
and cost.
1.5.1. Analysing current income streams
Value capture is interconnected with value propositions, for every value proposition there is
an associated income stream3. The first stage in analysing value capture is to identify what
income is associated with a value proposition, to determine its revenue generation.
CHS tend to have ‘fixed menu pricing’. Whether this is a pay-per-use price or a recurring
membership price, fixed pricing is where the price is set at a flat rate based on a set of
predefined variables. These variables include:
Product feature (i.e., dependent on the number or quality of features)
Segment (i.e., dependent on type or characteristics or a customer group)
Volume (i.e., dependent on the quantity purchased)
The reality is that several of these mechanisms may be used simultaneously.
EXAMPLE 1: pay-per-use, segment-dependent pricing
Let us take the example of a medieval cathedral, operating a pay-per-visit charge to tourists.
The price for entry varies by customer group with adults paying £7.50, senior and students
paying £6.00, and under 18s being free of charge. This could also be considered concession
pricing. This fixed price menu acts as the income stream for the tourism business model and
determines the revenue generated.
EXAMPLE 2: recurring, volume-dependent pricing
3 However, just as the same value proposition can benefit several types of clientele, this can be the case for income streams, with the same income stream applying to more than one value proposition.
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Another example, of a mine heritage site, uses a combination of pay-per-visit and membership
payment options, where membership pricing varies by volume; individual (£72), joint (£120),
family group (£126), and life (£1730)
1.5.2. Analysing current cost drivers
Just as for every business model there is an income stream, for every business model there
are associated costs. Clearly cost structures used for financial reporting may make it difficult
to allocate costs, particularly indirect costs, to a specific business model or customer group4.
However, identifying these costs will enable you to determine business model earnings.
EXAMPLE 1:
When analysing the cost drivers of their tourism business model, the medieval cathedral
identified the following cost categories:
Direct
Marketing and communications
Staff salaries
Booking systems
Printed materials
Indirect
Heritage[PL2]
Music
Output of Phase 1 – Value capture: Identification of income streams and cost drivers for every
value proposition. Where it is possible to allocate financial figures, not just categories of
revenue streams and drivers, this can lead to calculation of earnings per business model.
4 There are methods for allocating costs in this way. See for example, Kaplan, R. S., & Anderson, S. R. (2007). Time-driven activity-based costing: a simpler and more powerful path to higher profits. Harvard Business Press.
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PHASE 2. Designing AR/VR experiences
The work in Phase 1 provides an overall picture of the current business model of the site, main
offering, and resources. Having identified opportunities for digital enhancement, it is now
time to design and develop the digital devices. Phase 2 will guide you in ensuring the digital
devices are made to meet particular groups of visitors and provide them with relevant content
that is aligned with their expectations as well as with the site’s cultural and heritage
significance. Furthermore, this section will guide you through technical decisions to be made,
such as choosing the type of technology, devices and digital content that can best deliver the
new value proposition. Finally, organisation planning is covered to make sure the technology
is introduced in a way that is adequate to the resources you have available. Staff and
operational aspects required are considered, as well as the most appropriate monetisation
strategies to capitalise on the investment.
2.1. Value proposition
As seen in Phase 1, a value proposition is relevant when it meets the needs and wants of
specific audiences. Thus, one way to increase chances of providing a meaningful experience
to visitors is to begin by identifying a target audience, their needs and wants, and then develop
a value proposition for the AR/VR experience accordingly. Key questions are:
What is the target audience of each AR/VR experience?
What value will the digital experience offer the target audience?
2.1.1. Determining the target audience
The visitor intelligence tools employed in Phase 1 can collect a large amount of data, making
it somewhat difficult to make sense of. A useful way of synthetizing the visitor intelligence
collected earlier and identifying potential target audiences is to create a set of personas.
Definition
A persona is an archetype or representation of what the target
audience looks like, wants, and how that audience behaves. It is
intentionally simple and basic, making it easy to understand and
communicate, but also firmly based on data and insights gathered
from real visitors.
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For instance, take visitor motivation for visiting a cultural heritage site. Since each person
ascribes different meanings to the site, they have varied motivations for wanting to visit it,
thus making it possible to break visitors into six groups5:
Explorers: Curiosity-driven with a generic interest in the content of the site. They
expect to find something that will grab their attention and fuel their learning.
Facilitators: Socially motivated. Their visit is focused on primarily enabling the
experience and learning of others in their accompanying social group.
Experience Seekers: Motivated to visit because they perceive the site as an important
destination. Their satisfaction primarily derives from the mere fact of having ‘been
there and done that’.
Rechargers: Primarily seeking to have a contemplative, spiritual, and/or restorative
experience. They use the site as a refuge from the work-a-day world.
Hobbyists: Feel a close tie between the sites content and their professional or hobbyist
passions. Their visits are typically motivated by a desire to satisfy a specific content
related subject.
Community Seekers: Those with a strong sense of heritage and/or personhood. They
view the site as an important part of their heritage and identity.
These motivations can be assessed against other visitor data, e.g., age, size of visiting party,
or spatial behaviour. For instance, a woman in her early 40s may have a particular interest in
sacred art, and spend most of her cathedral visit learning about the unique sacramental
artefacts on display. Her partner, also in his 40s, may partake in the visit to allow her a chance
to engage with her hobby while he watches over their 5-year-old child, eventually spending
most time in the cloister garden or in the café. Their other 14-year-old daughter also joins, but
spends most time looking for the best spot to take a picture to share on Instagram, finally
deciding on a view of sunlight shining through the stained glass windows.
The scenario above reveals 3 personas:
5 Falk, J. (2009). Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
36
While the above example is anecdotal, it illustrates the variety of characteristics and features
that make up your visitors. Using the visitor intelligence toolbox provided in Phase 1, you
should be able to reach a set of visitor segments based on statistical data. Each of these
segments have different characteristics, visiting behaviours, and motivations for visiting the
CHS. Having this understanding is fundamental to designing meaningful experiences that meet
target audiences’ expectations and desires.
2.1.2. AR/VR value proposition to the target audience
In order to increase the overall value of the visit and be truly impactful, the new digital
experience should be tailored to meet the characteristics and needs of the persona targeted.
Take the persona created in the previous step and think of ways in which the site’s features
and story (Storytelling/Content) relate to the persona’s attributes. The aim is to create a
bespoke experience for a persona in a way that will meet their profile, motivation and needs.
For example, if the target audience is primarily looking to gain knowledge about the history of
the site, the digital experience could highlight historical aspects in its storytelling, or favour
certain POI with greater historical value. If they are visiting the site mostly to spend time with
friends or family, the experience could include a social feature that allows for groups to do it
simultaneously. If they often navigate the site erratically, consider creating a visitor journey in
a modular style, where each POI can be experienced independently, rather than developing a
linear narrative.
This task can be quite challenging, but it is important to be as specific and clear as possible
when focusing on the value to the visitor. A brainstorming workshop discussing the links
between the site’s offering and the characteristics of its target audience can help develop a
set of value proposition statements, one for each persona.
Hobbyist 40s Female British High-income job Higher education
Taking a short break over the weekend Family group (adults and children)
To learn something about a subject I am passionate about
Specialised assistance and detailed interpretation
Facilitator 40s Male British Self-employed Higher education
Taking a short break over the weekend Family group (adults and children)
To bring a friend or family member
Requires facilities to enable socialisation, e.g., play area
Experience Seeker
14 year old Female British Student
Taking a short break over the weekend Family group (adults and children)
To see a famous attraction
Indication of highlights and most popular POI of the site
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Value proposition statement
Journey title
VR of mine tunnel
Target audience (persona)
Explorer families
Value proposition statement
Immersive experience providing the thrill of walking down an underground mine tunnel and discovering what the atmosphere was like during the height of production
2.1.3. Safeguarding your core audience
While digital experiences may aim to attract new audiences, it is essential that the new
experience and audiences do not affect the current visiting experience of the core audience.
For instance, the majority of visitors to a cathedral perceive the site as a place of spiritual
restoration, and visit in order to escape from the busy daily lifestyle and to experience some
peace of mind. In order to attract new audiences, e.g., families with children, a new VR
experience was developed. In the process, the cathedral management considered ways in
which this could affect the experience of those visiting for prayer and silence, and decided to
place the VR in a room to the side of the main nave in order to minimise noise and impact of
visitors looking for a quiet and peaceful experience.
Output of Phase 2 – VP: A target audience (persona) for each digital experience, and a value
proposition statement of how the digital experience enhances the target audience’s visit.
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2.2. Storytelling/Content
An engaging story is key to a memorable experience. Choosing what type of technology to
employ will depend on what story you wish to tell, how you want to tell it, and who the target
audience of the new digital experience is. In this matter, key questions to consider are:
What story will the new journey and digital experiences tell?
What curation is necessary?
2.2.1. Integrating new stories in the overall message
You need to determine what story you want the digital experience to tell, and consider how it
will integrate within the overall story and journeys the CHS already has on offer. Before you
begin developing the new journey, it is crucial to take into consideration the journeys that the
site currently offers to the public and identify gaps for the creation of new journeys. Digital
technologies can either enhance an existing journey, or be used to create a new journey to
visitors. Regardless of the choice, the new experience must fit in with the other journeys and
the broader theme – understand how it connects to, impacts, and enhances the overall story,
in addition to the other journeys identified during Phase 1.
2.2.2. Selecting POI to comprise new journey
When defining the new visitor journey, you need to select the specific POI that will make up
the experience. One way to do this is to organise an interpretation workshop with the site’s
team to examine all POI and determine which ones offer best value to include in the new
visitor journey.
When creating a new visitor journey you will have to consider three main pieces of
information:
List of the site’s POI identified in Phase 1 - Storytelling
Visitor intelligence, namely your current visitors and the target audience (personas)
Resources available, including existing media contents, tools, facilities, staff, and
budget
As a general recommendation, the running length for a visitor journey should not exceed 60
minutes to avoid saturation, overloading, and visitor fatigue. Considering that the planned
experience of each POI is approximately 5 minutes, the optimal number of POI to include
within a visitor journey should be between 8-12.
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You can use the Visitor Journey Table to create a new visitor journey, starting with the
Episodes and Storytelling columns. You also need a Value Proposition statement and the
Target Audience for the journey.
Template: visitor journey table, with focus on POI, story, and curation
Journey title:
Target audience:
Value proposition:
2.2.3. Deciding which POI to digitally enhance
Whilst it is certainly possible to design a visitor journey with digital interpretation at every
single POI, doing so entails substantial costs in digital production. Thus it is often necessary to
decide which POI are going to have a more traditional interpretation (text, images, and so on),
and which are more suitable for being enhanced with technology. For instance, a visitor
journey covering 10 POI can have digital interpretation experiences at five POI spread out
during the visitor journey. The remaining five POI would then rely on traditional interpretation
for storytelling.
The decision of where to apply digital technologies should be taken after examining every
aspect of the CHS, including the resources that are available, heritage content, the desire to
attract new audiences or to generate revenue from secondary POIs. For example, when
analysing which POI will employ digital interpretation, it is helpful to identify what heritage
content is necessary (historical records, multimedia database, etc.), and then what content is
already available and what needs to be produced (see Phase 2 - Mediation tools).
Example: A medieval cathedral is studying options to generate more interest to attract
potential visitors to the site. They decide to develop an experience that digitally augments the
façade of the building to represent the original colours of the statues and figures as they were
centuries ago. One of the main reasons behind the decision to create digital interpretation for
this particular POI was because the cathedral possessed substantial research on the medieval
chromatics of the figures. AR technology was seen as a suitable tool to capitalise on this
research and create a new experience to visitors.
Visitor journey
Storytelling
Episode number
Episode name
Location Duration (est.)
Message/story POI Curation
# 1
# 2
# 3
# 4
# 5
# 6
# 7
No ...
40
Some practical issues should also be kept in mind. Concerning the location of the digital
experience, visitor flows, and site constraints may cause bottlenecks, queuing, and visitors
hindering equipment use by others. Moreover, the link and proximity between digital
experiences needs to be managed to ensure each visitor gets a positive and immersive
experience (see Phase 2 - Mediation tools).
It is a good practice to re-use as much of the existing interpretation as possible. In fact, visitor
journeys often include both digital and analogue interpretation. For example, a painting can
be digitally augmented to present added information and media while still maintaining a
physical tag with basic information, such as artist, date, and commissioners. Re-using existing
interpretation can keep costs affordable, however it is important to maintain some coherence
when planning a visitor journey that combines digital and analogue interpretation.
Implementing state of the art digital solution alongside old and out of date scenography will
create an odd experience, therefore you must also rethink how the site’s current curation can
be adapted to the new technology (or vice-versa) in order to ensure a smooth visitor
experience.
2.2.4. Script writing and storyboarding
Once you have determined what micro-story each POI will tell, how will it be narrated? These
questions require script writing for conveying the message and some curation to ensure
meaningful impact of the experience. One thing to note is that the same POI can tell multiple
stories/perspectives. For example, visitors can listen to a fictional or historical character
narrate his/her role and relationship with a certain POI, and then listen to an academic speak
about the historical interest of the POI.
Definition
A storyboard is a visual depiction (or textual description) of the scenes
that will make up the digital experience, including notes and
observations for technical production.
A storyboard is a draft of the narrative of the digital experience and illustrates how and what
the visitor will experience each POI. The storyboard also helps identify problems before going
into production stage of the new experience and reduce costs. The digital production team
will need to have a detailed understanding of the contents of the story, and how it should be
presented to visitors in order to create the digital experience.
Output of Phase 2 – Storytelling: Identification of the story/chapters that the new digital
experience is going to tell, and which POIs are used for storytelling. A visitor journey table for
the new digital journey. A script and storyboard for the digital experiences.
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2.3. Mediation tools
Which digital mediation tools do you plan to use? And for what reasons?
How do you plan to integrate the tools into your visitor journey: are you rethinking the whole
journey (creating a new one) or adding VISTA AR tools to existing journeys?
2.3.1. VISTA AR digital mediation tools
To improve the experience of your visitors, VISTA AR proposes four digital mediation tools (cf.
table) based on immersive augmented reality or virtual reality technologies.
Definitions
Virtual reality technologies completely immerse the user in an environment
other than the one in which the user is located. These technologies modify
sensory perceptions, such as sight and hearing (mainly), and plunge/immerse
the visitor into a virtual world disconnected from reality. The interface is a VR
headset or a smartphone equipped with a VR devices.
For example, you feel immersed below the ocean’s surface or transported to
Ancient Egypt.
Augmented reality technologies enrich reality by displaying virtual elements
using an interface (smartphone, tablet, etc.).
These technologies add content to the environment where the user is.
Texts or animated characters overlap with the real environment.
For example, you visit a town and get more information about it when
scanning the buildings with your smartphone.
Table: Vista-AR mediation tools
Mediation tools Technology type Examples
Tablet Virtual and/or Augmented Reality
In augmented reality (AR): in gardens, a GPS tablet can display animated characters in strategic locations for a treasure hunt. In virtual reality (VR): 3D panoramas of an open space, such as a garden, in different seasons.
Model Augmented Reality Based on a physical model, a tablet can display a digital augmentation of what the heritage site looked like in different eras
Immersive room Virtual Reality Immerse the visitor in ocean flora and fauna using 360° screens
Headset Virtual Reality In a cathedral, a VR headset can simulate crossing the roof of the cathedral on a plank.
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2.3.2. A series of questions to consider
Remember that the purpose of AR/VR mediation tools is to enhance heritage content for a
target audience, and to achieve the performance objectives you have set for the heritage site.
For this reason, it is necessary to ask several questions before selecting the mediation tools
(cf. table below).
Questions to ask before selecting digital mediation tools
Case
What are the characteristics of the target audience?
- Age - Social acceptance of
technology for the heritage concerned
- Etc.
- Some heritage sites have forbidden the use of tablets below a certain age to avoid the risk of falling. The headset is not recommended to visitors below the age of 12.
- The uses of the digital mediation tools need to be anticipated, to avoid conflicts of use between visitors, bottlenecks, or damage to the site or the equipment itself.
How do you want the visitor to use it?
- Individual or collective - Some sites aim for the tools to be used by families (tablet), other propose a tablet for each visitor. The content needs to be adapted depending on this choice.
What are the features of the heritage content to enhance?
- Tangible or intangible - Uses of the location by
visitors
- AR is ideal for reconstituting architectural sites. However, intangible content, such as the atmosphere of a location in a particular period, is more realistic in VR.
- In the case of a ruined building, visitors may need immersion, using VR, to see how the site looked previously. However, in a garden, evoking peace and calm, immersion (if this effect is desired) can be encouraged using resources other than digital mediation tools.
What are the resources and media assets available to support the couple storytelling-mediation tools?
- Access to historical records, e.g., pictures, videos
- Quality of these assets to provide the necessary accuracy and authenticity
- Following the inscription on the World Heritage List, a heritage site has a lot of historical content it wants to show to the public. It needs to detail the different kinds of contents available.
In what environment will the tool be installed?
- Indoor or outdoor - Steep or safe - Light or dark - Spacious or cramped - Empty or full - Possibility of installing
electric equipment and/or wireless communication (Wi-Fi, beacons, etc.).
- The choice of interface will depend on whether there is a risk of bad weather or conditions are controlled.
- The space available to install a technological mediation tool will also limit the choice of tool. During immersion via a VR headset, the location must be spacious enough to install the equipment and guarantee the safety of the user. In addition, take care if tablets are used in steep, rocky, or dark locations to avoid the risk of falls.
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More generally, you must pay careful attention to the simultaneous use of different equipment by different visitors.
Examples
If the audio is launched on several tablet applications at different times, this may create a confusing hubbub
An architectural element must be scanned from a distance to trigger AR content, but this distance may result in the user obstructing the visibility of another point of interest.
A garden wants to attract families with teenagers by adding immersive mediation tools
in the visit offering. But the core audience of the site is adults over 50 years old. The
site manager has to be cautious about potential conflicts between both target
audiences.
After answering these questions, you will be able to design your AR-VR tools using the
Template: visitor journey table, focusing on mediation tools
2.3.3. Points requiring special care
- Sites that already have scenography using technological mediation tools
At certain sites, incorporating AR-VR technologies in the visitor journey requires an overall
redesign of the scenography. In this case, the site will review the mediation tools all along the
journey, including the choice of points of interest, what the guides highlight, the signs and
labels, etc.
At other sites, VISTA-AR tools will be used to complete an existing, more or less technological
scenography. In this case it will be necessary to consider the coherence of the whole range of
mediation tools (and of their integration in the storytelling), both to satisfy the tourists and to
Visitor journey
Storytelling Mediation
Episode number
Episode name
Location Duration (est.)
Mediation interface (sign, guide, tablet,
etc.)
Mediation technology
(where appropriate)
Media content (videos, pics, animation)
Trigger modality
(where appropriate)
# 1
# 2
# 3
# 4
# 5
# 6
# 7
No ...
44
facilitate the site’s organisation/operations. The tools must be coherent at two levels: that of
the messages they provide (cf. storytelling) and that of the types of technology already present
in the current journey. In the latter, it is important to ensure that the difference between
different generations of technologies used on the journey is not too conspicuous, for fear of
accentuating perceptions that older technologies are now obsolete.
- Protected heritage sites
Protected heritage sites may be subject to restrictions to the extent to which they may modify
the site to install technological equipment. In France, work carried out on protected sites may
require the approval of the national architectural review board. Other possibilities exist, such
as operating a wireless network from another area on the site, but sometimes natural or
architectural constraints make wireless communication difficult. Solutions exist, but it is
important to plan ahead to overcome these constraints.
Some protected sites will have to call on a scientific committee of experts in the type of
heritage in question to approve the historical hypotheses made by AR or VR interpretation.
For example, in the case of historical remains, scientific approval of AR or VR restitutions may
be mandatory (depending on the type of protection the site benefits from) or requested by
the site, so that it can communicate about the accuracy of the reconstitutions proposed by
the site’s digital mediation tools.
2.3.4. Device testing
The technical development of digital interpretation devices is complex and consists of several
stages. While most work is completed by software developers and animation experts, some
on-site testing is necessary to ensure that the devices, triggers, software, and content are
tweaked for an optimal experience. Often developers will produce a prototype (V1) of the
device to be tested on-site, after which an improved Version 2 is finally implemented.
Some testing on practical aspects of the device use is required. For instance, the light in a
room may have a detrimental impact on how the AR image triggers on a physical model, e.g.,
if the sun shines too brightly through the window. The height and distance required to trigger
the AR image may also restrict the location of the physical model within the heritage site.
Regarding VR experiences, it is necessary to find a setup that is able to accommodate the
hardware, e.g., server computer, long cables, and headsets, while simultaneously leaving
enough space for visitors to explore the VR environment comfortably.
Quality tests can be run with a small sample of visitors. Give them a chance to try out the
AR/VR device and explore the interpretation. Following their experience, they can fill out a
short survey to provide feedback. It is important that the survey contains open ended
questions because visitors’ impressions and notes taken from the experience will prove
invaluable in revealing issues for improvement in the final version. Aspects such as visual and
45
sound quality, quality of content/storyline, and easiness of use are essential. You can also
include a question about how satisfying the prototype experience was.
Output of Phase 2 – Mediation tools: Identification of the assets and constraints you have in
each POI in term of mediation tools choice. You have a decision about the tools you want to
tell your story. You also have a clear idea of issues at stake according to your situation (labelled
heritage, match, and consistency between new tools and former tools remaining).
VISTA AR Staff will help you to manage these assets and constraints and to make it happen.
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2.4. Delivery
Why should you consider your activities and resources when introducing digital mediation
tools?
Changes in mediation tools imply changes in your site management. Yet there is a very common misconception that adding digital mediation tools is just a question of technology. This is a limited view that may prevent the site from achieving its objectives. On the contrary, technological innovation is tightly linked to innovation in the site’s organisational structure. Changes to the site’s activities, as well as to its resources, are essential. Considering these changes ensures a successful introduction of digital heritage mediation tools and does not endanger the organisation of the site.
Once you have a visitor journey equipped with digital mediation tools (developed in the sections “interpretation” and “mediation tools”), you can develop the blueprint for the activities and resources you need for the new journey to operate correctly. For each POI, you need to identify physical evidences, tourists ’actions, staff ‘actions (front and back office).
2.4.1. Physical Evidence (Resources)
Physical evidence is necessary to indicate how and where to use the mediation tools. At the beginning of the visitor journey, you can install a presentation of the tools to help the visitor getting started. That first physical evidence can be a sign with pictures and text (in national and foreign languages). You will also need a place to store and recharge the devices. The arrival of digital mediation tools could imply some changes in the layout of the site entrance. Example: In a medieval site located in the Ile de la Cité in Paris, the site manager decided to set up a screen with a short promotional video showing what additional content people can access with the tablet and how to use it. All along the journey, you may indicate how to trigger the virtual view or the augmented reality content. Some sites set up totems whereas others propose to scan a building or another physical feature of the heritage site.
2.4.2. Tourist’s actions
The use of digital tools can modify the traffic of visitors, more or less according to the sites and their spatial characteristics (cf. mediation tools, indoor-outdoor, wide or narrow, etc.). To anticipate and avoid problems (queuing, uses conflicts, risks of falling, etc.), you need to identify tourist’s actions for each POI. Example: you want the visitor to trigger the AR view of a space by scanning a trigger. To do this, the visitor must be 1 meter away from the trigger. Two issues can occur: a difficulty in
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accessing the trigger when more than X visitors (X: number to define according the space available) want to use it; when the presence of a visitor using the trigger can prevent another visitor from seeing an item located in the same space (a painting, an historic object, or just a sign). To help visitors behave as expected, you can also provide warning signs (cf. supra) about security, age limit or indications of how to use the free access tools (if applicable).
2.4.3. Staff ‘actions
Another common misconception about technology is that it can replace humans. However, new mediation tools imply new tasks that in most cases require human resources, both front office and back office.
Front Office Staff actions
Actions carried out by front office staff refer to all actions during which they are in direct
contact with visitors. These include distributing the tools, explaining how they work, retrieving
them, and refunding the deposit (if applicable). It requires new staff capacities both in quantity
and in skills. Sometimes the site is able to handle these new tasks using already employed staff
members and sometimes it needs to hire new staff members.
Site constraints (room design, availability of electricity, etc.) may facilitate or complicate the
site capacity to manage the new needs in staff.
Examples: two British castles have completely different room design, especially at the
entrance. One has space available next to the front desk to install a special POI which helps
visitors to test the digital mediation tool (tablet). It relieves human resources strain by pooling
tasks: welcoming and explaining how to use the tools. The other castle does not have enough
space to allow proper assistance in handling the devices at the entrance.
Digital mediation tools could also modify some front-office jobs like that of the tour guide. As
a site manager, it is important to regularly touch base with employees to avoid professional
identity and legitimacy problems.
Back Office Staff ‘actions
Back-office staff performs actions often invisible for the visitors but crucial to ensure a smooth
functioning of the site. They need to ensure the devices are recharged, as in the case of tablets,
for example. They manage maintenance and repair, internally and/or via subcontracting with
a service provider.
The communication department of the site will also have a key role to play. It will attract
tourists and tour operators via social media, website, press, or tourism fairs. It will also
prepare them to a specific use of the tools and inform them about the use restrictions (age,
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number of participants, etc.). When the tool is a smartphone application, the department
should make information available concerning where and how it can be downloaded.
2.4.4. From new activities to new resources
After defining the actions of visitors and staff, you will be able to define the resources you need to complete all new activities.
Template: Visitor journey table, including columns for Delivery
Output of Phase 2 – Delivery: Identification of visitors and staff actions necessary to ensure
the delivery of AR/VR experiences, identification of new activities necessary to the site to
function, identification of the resources needed (in quantity and quality).
Visitor Journey Storytelling Mediation Delivery
Episode number
Visitor actions (if any)
Staff actions (front office)
Staff actions (back office)
Resources
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2.5. Value Capture
The business model is defined for a single value proposition, often for a single type of client.
Just as a business model requires consideration of value to the client, when you design a new
value proposition, you need to consider how you will capture value from it. Likewise, when
introducing virtual and augmented reality experiences into an existing business model, the
value proposition changes and this presents an opportunity to consider how it will create
value.
What constitutes value for your site will depend on the primary goal of business model
innovation. Often, given the investment required to develop these technologies, this will
involve the design of an income stream, often referred to as a monetization strategy. For
others, for example those who have secured funds for innovation based on delivering social
or cultural value, the primary goal may be entirely non-monetary. In such cases, designing
value capture will not require a monetization strategy but instead may focus on other sources
of value with non-financial indicators of success. The remainder of this section focuses on
monetization strategies; types of strategy and factors effecting choice of strategy. In phase 3,
we set out a process for designing indicators of success which can be adapted if the primary
goal is not to generate revenues, this may also be used in conjunction with a monetization
strategy if you have both monetary and non-monetary goals.
Definition
A monetization strategy is a plan of action, designed to convert an
event, object, or transaction into a form of currency in order to achieve
an overall aim or goal.
2.5.1. Types of monetization strategy
Should we charge for the AR/VR experience? What are the options?
Monetization strategies for digital technologies and experiences can be direct or indirect. A
direct revenue generating strategy directly charges a price associated with the experience.
Whereas, indirect strategies generate revenue from activities other than from the experience
itself. For example, by attracting new or repeat visits or by driving customer spending in other
peripheral activities, such as food and beverages, or souvenirs. In these cases, the goal is still
to increase revenue for the site but not by directly charging a fee for the digital experience.
2.5.2. Direct monetization strategies
There are three types of rights a business can legally sell – ownership, access, and matching
rights. We will use these to classify types of direct monetization strategy.
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Types of legal right a business can sell6
Ownership A business can sell the right of ownership of an
asset.
Customers who buy the right of ownership of
an asset have the continuing right to use the
asset in (almost) any way they want including
selling or disposing of it.
Use/access A business can sell the right to use an asset.
Customers buy the right to use the asset in
certain ways for a certain period of time, but
the owner retains ownership, and can restrict
the ways it is used. At the end of the time
period, all rights revert to the owner.
Matching A business can sell the right to be matched with
potential buyers or sellers of something.
Ownership rights
At first glance it may seem unlikely that a site would sell ownership rights of an experience,
allowing customers continued right to use without further charge and the right to transfer
ownership to another party. However, in actual fact, selling ownership rights to an experience
can be a scalable way to offer storytelling and mediation, encouraging people to visit the site
without adding pressure to existing mediation interfaces and site resources (e.g., guided
tours). Examples include selling a tour/guide book or app. When we sell a guide book,
customers own the book, they have the right to resell, gift or dispose of it. However, selling
an experience (a tour) in this way still encourages visits to the site. Similarly, a trail or tour can
be sold as a digital product, as an in-app purchase to an app or as an app in its own right. A
digital tour, in comparison to the print version, may be lower in price but is harder to transfer
ownership or resell.
Matching rights
Selling matching rights represents a fee paid to a site that matches potential customers to
advertisers. This is akin to a traditional advertising model. While this model has been criticised
on the basis customers don’t trust advertising media, often don’t view the adverts and no
longer need adverts to inform a buying decision7. This criticism is often directed at pop-up
advertising, there may still be a place for matching rights where the content is linked and
relevant to the activity.
6 Weill et al (2004) Do Some Business Models Perform Better than Others? A Study of the 1000 Largest US Firms, MIT Sloan Management working paper, no.226 7 Clemons, E.K. (2009), Business Models for monetizing internet applications and web sites: Experience, theory and predictions, Journal of Management Information systems, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp.15-41
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EXAMPLE 1:
A walking trail provider sells matching rights to partner businesses who wish to advertise to
users of their app. providing a free app to walkers, the app offers free content, such as trail
maps, guides, and information. In addition, it advertises accommodation, equipment, travel,
and rest stops to those who engage.
Use/access rights
The most common direct monetization strategies sell usage of, or access rights to, an
experience. When selling usage rights for a digital experience as part of broader cultural
heritage offering, sites need to consider how to combine entrance charges with fees for the
digital experience(s).
For instance, there may be no charge for entry or customers may be charged a price per visit
or a recurring membership fee. In addition, charges for the digital experiences themselves
may be at an additional ticket cost or included in the entrance charge. Where a ticket cost is
charged, this may be at a price per experience or as part of a package of experiences. Which
strategy you choose will depend on the following factors:
Willingness to pay of potential customers8
Competition
Existing business models and current charging structures
Type and length of experience
These factors effect customer expectation of price and their willingness to accept a charge.
EXAMPLES:
Strategy Description Example Considerations
Free site entry, pay
per experience
(freemium)
Entry is provided free of
charge, but money
(premium) is charged for
proprietary experiences
London Science
Museum (free entry
£3-7 per VR/MR
exhibit)
Requires valuable free
content, yet a desire for paid
content
Reliable data to suggest when
to switch to paid and on
different conversion offers,
barriers
Suffers if there are market
alternatives with free content
8 If you would like to understand more about how much your customers are willing to pay for an experience then we recommend the PSM method, a simple yet effective way to get a range of acceptable prices. For a primer on how to carry this analysis out, see https://www.5circles.com/van-westendorp-pricing-the-price-sensitivity-meter/.