Assessment of Digital Environments for Cultural Heritage Communication

Preservation of cultural heritage requires the effective communication of values associated with its tangible and intangible elements from one generation to the next. The process of transfer of values may be termed as Cultural Heritage Communication (CHComm). This paper analyses different approaches to Cultural Heritage Communication by identifying the dimensions of interface options through which a communication metaphor is deployed. The goal of this survey is to understand the ways in which digital environments and interfaces proposed in the literature can achieve effective Cultural Heritage Communication. The analysis is based on how the literature responds to the unique requirements of implementing effective CHComm within digital environments. Inferences arising out of the survey are classified through categories that provide insights on the communication metaphor, contextual implementation, user engagement, interface optimization and targeted evaluation. Finally, we propose three suggestions with the goal of facilitating the effectiveness of CHComm with respect to interfaces of digital environments.