Usability in virtual reality: evaluating user experience with interactive archaeometry tools in digital simulations

This is an experimental work presenting a study about usability experience of users in a cyber-archeology fully immersive 3D environment in Virtual Reality (VR). Particularly we research how users explore a realistic 3D environment with VR devices through archaeometry conventional techniques for archeology analysis and discoveries. Our main objective is to evaluate user’s experience with interactive archaeometry tools of a population called archeologists, not a VR expert, but expert on the context of the real experience of practicing archeology in remote site; and compare the results with another population called VR experts, in this case, not experts in archeology, but in VR technology and multimedia applications. Several standard metrics will be used to collect data about their interactions with the cyber system (efficacy, efficiency, satisfaction, level of presence and cyber-sickness). Two hypotheses will be tested with this experiment: a) it is possible to represent the virtual world as realistically as the real one, in such way that a person unfamiliar with this kind of technology, in this case the archaeologist, can develop analytical process of discoveries in the VR model; and b) if this VR model is passive of exploration, virtually it is possible to create analytical tools that will help the archaeologist to manipulate archaeometry tools. Both sample population had participated in usability tests and the results are promising.