TITLE:
Augmented Reality Application to Highlight Health Policies about Refugee Students in the Interwar Period. An Example of Empathetic Study of an Archival Collection
AUTHORS:
Antonis Hourdakis, Yannis Ieronymakis, Manolis Kounalakis, Marina Souka, Konstantinos Stefanidis, Nikolaos Partarakis, Emmanouil Zidianakis, Irini Kontaki, Theodoros Evdaimon, Giorgos Papadakakis
KEYWORDS:
Cretan Didaskaleion, Digitization of Archival Collection, History of Emotions, Electronic Research, Affective Computing, Engaging İmmersion Experience
JOURNAL NAME:
Technology and Investment,
Vol.14 No.3,
August
31,
2023
ABSTRACT: The
present research attempts, using virtual/augmented reality (AR) technologies,
to highlight, through selected digitized documents from the archival collection of the Cretan Didaskaleion (1901-1935), the eugenic
policies implemented by the Greek state in the field of public health in
relation to the refugee students of the Didaskaleion during the interwar period
(1918-1939). The theoretical basis of our approach is that a digitized archive
can better support the emergence of the emotion of an archival material (the
emotional weight of historical events requires an empathetic investigation),
(b) immersion through the use of virtual/augmented reality technologies
constitutes an engaging process through which an emotional turn to history is
achieved. The aim of
this research is to provide researchers with access to a virtual archival environment,
where they will be able to interact with digital representations of the documents and exhibits of the Cretan
Didaskaleion and engage in multi-sensory interaction experience with
them through virtual reality (AR) technologies. For this purpose, an immersive
scenario was designed and developed, consisting of selected
documents from the archival collection and a complementary documentary
material, which refers to events and persons of the specific era. The results
of the research refer to the possibility of applying an upgraded e-researching
approach through which the researchers: 1) discover the emotional/affective connotations of
the archival material, 2)
expand the research perspective by reflecting on the formulation of new
research questions.