Table 4.

A comparison of different categories of interaction interfaces against relationship, collaboration, and engagement: the comparison assists predetermining the relevance of a given interaction interface to enable cultural learning in virtual heritage applications.

Interaction methods	Relationship	Collaboration	Engagement
Tangible	Tangible interaction interfaces use physical objects to enable interaction with virtual content. This provides suitable setting to establish a direct relationship between users and virtual reconstructions and representations of cultural elements	Co-located collaboration is better achieved with tangible interaction interfaces since users can interact with virtual content via collectively manipulating physical objects. However, this might add extra sophistication to the design and development process since the interface in such cases requires a capability to capture inputs from multiple users	Interacting with virtual content through physical objects enhances users' engagement in virtual environments
Collaborative	Collaborative interaction interfaces enable two or more users' collective actions to enable interaction with virtual environments. This characteristic makes collaborative interfaces a viable approach for establishing a relationship between users, virtuality (cultural content) and the physical environment	Collaborative interfaces are viable mainly for applications that require users to collaborate in order to interact with virtual content disseminated via immersive reality systems	Collaboration between users leads to enhanced engagement in virtual environments as the interface mimics how users interact with cultural heritage collections at heritage sites and museums
Multimodal	Multimodal interfaces enable interaction with virtual content via a combination of different modes of interaction. Gestural, movement, speech, touch, and gaze are the main modes of interaction in this interface	Collaboration between users is better achieved with multimodal interfaces since such interfaces are versatile and mimic how users would interact with their physical environment	Multimodal interfaces provide enhanced engagement due to the interface's ease of use resemblance to natural interaction
	Multimodal interfaces resemble how we interact with our physical environment. Hence, this group of interfaces enable users to establish a relationship with cultural context
Device-based	Device-based interfaces enable interaction with virtual environments via haptic interfaces, and conventional devices, such as mouse, gamepad, joystick, and wand	Most devices in this category of interaction interfaces are designed for individual use. Hence, enabling collaboration across remote or co-located users requires synchronizing the devices, for instance, similar to collaborative video games	In general, device-based interfaces might affect engagement in virtual environments if the devices are demanding in terms the expertise required to operate them. This might interrupt users' presence in the virtual environment
	Enabling a contextual relationship between users, cultural context and virtual environments could be challenging since device-based methods require users to physically manipulate the devices
Sensor-based	In general, sensor-based interfaces employ sensing devices to understand different modes of interaction, such as motion tracking and speech recognition. Usually, the interfaces sense users' intention to interact with virtual environments. Hence, these interfaces can effectively maintain an enhanced relationship between users, virtual environments and the cultural content embedded in the environment	Collaboration can be achieved easily by synchronizing multiple sensors. However, current sensor-based interfaces target individual users	Engagement in virtual environments could be higher since the interface doesn't require physical manipulation. This results in a reduced effort to operate the interface and a higher level of engagement
Hybrid	Hybrid interfaces integrate two or more types of interfaces discussed above. As a result, a continuous relationship between users, cultural assets and virtual environments can be maintained by exploiting the strength of each interface	Hybrid interfaces' potential to exploit favorable features from other interfaces put them at a viable position to provide collaborative virtual environments	Hybrid interfaces can achieve a higher level of engagement by integrating collaborative and multimodal interfaces