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Designing Virtual Guides’ Characteristics for Remote Tourism in the Arctic

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ArtsIT, Interactivity and Game Creation (ArtsIT 2022)

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Abstract

The paper investigates the design of virtual guide characters in the context of remote tourism, focusing on their appearance, characteristics, and effects on the user experience. We created four virtual guide characters for an Arctic tourism context and evaluated them with 15 participants with a design background. In addition, the participants created their own virtual guide character designs by sketching and writing descriptions. The salient findings highlight e.g. that in the virtual guide’s design, the personality, local features, and historical authenticity matter for the user experience. However, local stereotypes provoke mixed feelings depending on the audience, and the diverse aspects of design should be paid attention to. The work contributes towards designing remote and more sustainable tourism experiences in the future.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the project “Innovation in Lapland through Design and Art”, funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and Regional Council of Lapland. We also wish to thank University of Lapland and Lapland University of Applied Sciences for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lapland University of Applied Sciences, 96300, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Sanni Mustonen

  2. University of Lapland, 96300, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Siiri Paananen & Jonna Häkkilä

Authors
  1. Sanni Mustonen
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  2. Siiri Paananen
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  3. Jonna Häkkilä
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Correspondence to Sanni Mustonen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Anthony L. Brooks

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Mustonen, S., Paananen, S., Häkkilä, J. (2023). Designing Virtual Guides’ Characteristics for Remote Tourism in the Arctic. In: Brooks, A.L. (eds) ArtsIT, Interactivity and Game Creation. ArtsIT 2022. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 479. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28993-4_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28993-4_17

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-28992-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-28993-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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