“Some Account of an Extraordinary Traveller”: Using Virtual Tours to Access Remote Heritage Sites of Inuit Cultural Knowledge

Abstract

The use of panoramic images to transport viewers to remote geographic locations can be traced back to the panorama theatres of nineteenth-century Victorian London. More recently, Google’s World Wonders Project has utilized 360-degree panospheres to capture some of the world’s most famous heritage sites. Using arrows that demarcate a defined path of movement, users can virtually tour these sites by “jumping” from one panosphere to the next. Arvia’juaq National Historic site is located near the community of Arviat. Although the heritage value of the site is highly significant, Arvia’juaq sees few national and international visitors because of its remote location. For a variety of reasons, some local Inuit also find it difficult to regularly visit the site even though it is an important source of cultural identity. In this paper, we explore how panospheres can be used to create interactive virtual tours of heritage sites like Arvia’juaq. Although there are some caveats, we argue that virtual reality (VR) tours are potentially powerful tools for connecting people to heritage sites that might otherwise be inaccessible. This has important implications for raising awareness of polar heritage and its significance to Indigenous people, as well as national and international audiences.

Photo elicitation as a tool for expanded participation in community archaeology

“…This mode of inclusive and collaborative photo elicitation is also demonstrated by several case studies of archaeologists, artists, and heritage professionals who use virtual and visual methods as a form of engaging with local and descendant Inuit communities (Dawson, Levy, and Lyons 2011;Dawson et al 2018). Visualization of archaeological data and virtual representation of sites is not simply a way of presenting data to a wider public or to the world of heritage professionals.…”

“…These 360°cameras are generally small, handheld (or mountable on tripods, helmets, cars, etc. ), and have specialized camera lenses that are able to capture 360°, thus creating a panoramic spherical image or a 'panosphere' (Dawson et al 2018) that can immerse the viewers in the scene as if they were physically present. There are a variety of different models of these cameras, many of them averaging about $300 (Barazzetti, Previtali, and Roncoroni 2018).…”

“…This shifts the role of archaeologist from storyteller to one that facilitates the telling of stories by those who have intimate connections that that place. Dawson et al (2018) make the point that the aesthetics of virtual representations of a place is equally if not more important than the accuracy of the digital image when it comes to visitor experience and engagement. It is the aesthetics, 'the visual characteristics, textures, and ambience' that draw a person in, evoke emotion, trigger memory, and 'make a more lasting impact' (Dawson et al 2018, 255).…”

“…The first mode was through the Ricoh Theta application on an iPad, allowing viewers to swipe across the screen to change the perspective of the frame. The second mode used Google Cardboard, a relatively cheap and easily assembled VR headset (Dawson et al 2018), and the Ricoh app on my mobile phone, set to the twin lens VR mode (see Figure 5).…”

“…One of the most profound uses of the virtual panospheres was, as Dawson et al suggest, the ability to reunite communities and specific individuals with the sites and material objects to which they no longer have access (Dawson et al 2018). The 'virtual reality mode' of the 360 panospheres meant that interview participants could see a place as if they were physically there.…”