Pre/Absence: Prompting Cultural Awareness and Understanding for Lost Architectural Heritage in Virtual Reality

TL;DR

This work introduces Pre/Absence, a VR narrative experience anchored in the presence–absence dialectic to interpret lost architectural heritage, using Hanyuan Hall as a case study. A formative study identifies two core interpretive problems—flattened, fact-focused narratives and linear, static storytelling—and motivates two design goals: vertically excavating meanings and horizontally embracing evolving dynamics. A controlled mixed-method study shows that VR enhances cultural awareness and emotional engagement more than a paper-based alternative, while also revealing design mechanisms (multi-perspective narratives, spatiotemporal layering, and participatory endings) that drive these gains. The findings offer practical design guidance for critical heritage narratives in HCI, suggesting that VR can transform audiences into co-constructors of heritage meaning and supporters of preservation.

Abstract

Lost architectural heritage presents interpretive challenges due to vanished structures and fragmented historical records. Using Hanyuan Hall of the Tang dynasty's Daming Palace as a case study, we conducted a formative investigation with archaeologists, heritage administrators, and visitors to identify key issues in current interpretation practices. We found that these practices often compress complex cultural layers into factual summaries and rely on linear narratives that overlook the continuing reinterpretations following a site's disappearance. In response, we designed Pre/Absence, a virtual reality experience grounded in the presence-absence dialectic to interweave tangible and vanished aspects of heritage within a spatiotemporal narrative. A mixed-method study with 28 participants compared Pre/Absence to a paper-based experience. Both improved users' factual understanding, but the VR experience more strongly enhanced cultural awareness, evoked emotional engagement with loss, and encouraged critical reflection on the evolving social and political meanings of heritage. The findings suggest that VR can move beyond static reconstruction to engage users as co-constructors of cultural meaning, providing a nuanced framework for critical heritage narrative design in human-computer interaction.

Figures (10)

• Figure 1: Capturing the presence and absence of the lost architectural heritage (Hanyuan Hall) as core VR design elements of Pre/Absence.
• Figure 2: Representing & embedding presence-absence into narratives. We propose three design considerations to use certain design methods to dialectically transform original presence or absence design elements into critical narrative components, finally achieving specific narrative goals.
• Figure 3: Overview of the scenes of Pre/Absence from spatiotemporal and presence-absence dialectic perspectives.
• Figure 4: Narratives and interactions flow of Scene 1: Tracing Archaeological Excavation Journey.
• Figure 5: Narratives and interactions flow of Scene 2: Exploring the Present-Day Reconstructed Foundation Site.