Voice-activated AR Heritage Tours (VAARHeT)

User research and testing
2024 – 2025

Partnering on VAARHeT (Voice-Activated Augmented Reality Heritage Tours), a winner of the VOXReality Open Call, XR Ireland and Cēsis Municipality set out to augment and enhance visitor experiences at the Araisi lake settlement archaeological open-air museum in Latvia. By integrating voice-activated XR technologies, the project aimed to make cultural heritage more interactive, accessible, and engaging, especially for families, young people, and visitors with mobility challenges.

VOXReality is a Horizon Europe project that focuses on converging natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision (CV) through development of AI models to create immersive, voice-driven XR experiences. By fostering collaboration between technology developers and end-users, VOXReality enables innovative solutions like VAARHeT to enhance accessibility, education, and engagement in diverse domains and organisations across Europe.

XYZ Technical Art Services was seconded to XR Ireland to support VAARHeT’s success through user research, 3D visualisations and project coordination, helping to bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and real-world user needs.

As the central hub for communication, XYZ Technical Art Services coordinated efforts among XR Ireland, Āraiši Ezerpils Archaeological Park, and the VOXReality co-ordinators. Our role included aligning technical and creative teams to ensure the XR applications met both user needs and museum goals, facilitating iterative testing and refinement, from lab settings to on-site piloting, and documenting feedback and insights, enabling data-driven decisions for future development and commercialisation.

Our team led the usability testing and user experience research for VAARHeT’s three innovative XR applications: AR Glasses for Visual Translation, providing real-time visual translation for multilingual tours, a voice-driven mobile-based avatar offering practical information, such as opening hours and ticket prices, and a VR experience illustrating the complex construction of the lake settlement.

With 39 on-site test participants, we assessed usability and intuitiveness of the XR applications, the added value of voice-driven interactions and AI models, and areas for refinement to optimize user engagement and commercial potential.

The VR experience emerged as the clear favorite, with visitors praising their immersive storytelling and accessibility for people with mobility impairments. Users initially struggled with voice interaction, a novelty for many. We addressed this by improving UX writing and adding tutorial prompts to guide users. Feedback highlighted the importance of clear, conversational design. Visitors loved the “no buttons to press” approach, making the experience feel natural and engaging.

“In the Horizon EU funded project VAARHeT, Cordula’s coordination ensured that diverse inputs, from heritage experts to end-users, shaped our pilots. Her user-centred research guided key design decisions on voice interaction, localisation, and flow, resulting in higher quality outcomes. Working with XYZ Technical Art Services under Cordula’s leadership felt like a true partnership, marked by clear communication, responsibility, and a strong commitment to authentic, engaging, and inclusive cultural heritage experiences.“

Guillaume Auvray, lead project partner

More about VOXReality

Project documentary courtesy of XR Ireland