Augmented Reality Application to Highlight Health Policies about Refugee Students in the Interwar Period. An Example of Empathetic Study of an Archival Collection

Antonis Hourdakis¹, Yannis Ieronymakis¹, Manolis Kounalakis¹, Marina Souka¹, Konstantinos Stefanidis², Nikolaos Partarakis², Emmanouil Zidianakis², Irini Kontaki², Theodoros Evdaimon², Giorgos Papadakakis²

¹Department of Primary Education, University of Crete, C.S.R.H.E.T.P.*, Rethymno, Greece.
²Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Laboratory# of The Institute of Computer Science of The Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (ICS-FORTH), Herakleion, Greece.

DOI: 10.4236/ti.2023.143011                

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.

Keywords

Cretan Didaskaleion, Digitization of Archival Collection, History of Emotions, Electronic Research, Affective Computing, Engaging İmmersion Experience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

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