A Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context

Virtual Reality (VR) is now a popular tool in education and for engagement with the natural world, but to date little research has investigated its potential in a zoo setting. We aimed to gauge the interest of the visiting public in using VR technology at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS...

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Autores principales:	Zsuzsa Lugosi, Phyllis C. Lee
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Animal Behavior and Cognition 2021
Materias:	zoo education immersive technology virtual reality visitor-animal interactions Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/76006450d88242818325b15df494176f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:76006450d88242818325b15df494176f2021-11-03T19:34:07ZA Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context10.26451/abc.08.04.09.20212372-50522372-4323https://doaj.org/article/76006450d88242818325b15df494176f2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/35/AB_C_Vol8(4)_Lugosi_Lee.pdfhttps://doaj.org/toc/2372-5052https://doaj.org/toc/2372-4323Virtual Reality (VR) is now a popular tool in education and for engagement with the natural world, but to date little research has investigated its potential in a zoo setting. We aimed to gauge the interest of the visiting public in using VR technology at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo. A VR (n = 12) and a video condition (n = 12), both introducing the lives and conservation concerns of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), were used to gain greater insight of the thoughts and perceptions of how individuals evaluated a purpose-built VR experience and to enable comparisons of learning outcomes for both technologies. We used semi-structured interviews; responses were evaluated through thematic analysis and descriptive analysis. Younger participants (aged 13-18 years) emphasized that VR allowed them close and personal access to the animals. Adult participants (aged 19 and above) pointed out the entertainment value of the VR experience while highlighting the potential of its educational aspect; that of enabling visitors to see animals in their natural habitat. While our results require further confirmation due to the limited sample size and restricted circumstances of data collection, we suggest that VR could be usefully introduced as a public education and visitor engagement tool that would benefit the visitors’ learning and overall experience at the zoo. Zsuzsa LugosiPhyllis C. LeeAnimal Behavior and Cognitionarticlezoo educationimmersive technologyvirtual realityvisitor-animal interactionsZoologyQL1-991ENAnimal Behavior and Cognition, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 576-588 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	zoo education immersive technology virtual reality visitor-animal interactions Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	zoo education immersive technology virtual reality visitor-animal interactions Zoology QL1-991 Zsuzsa Lugosi Phyllis C. Lee A Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context
description	Virtual Reality (VR) is now a popular tool in education and for engagement with the natural world, but to date little research has investigated its potential in a zoo setting. We aimed to gauge the interest of the visiting public in using VR technology at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo. A VR (n = 12) and a video condition (n = 12), both introducing the lives and conservation concerns of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), were used to gain greater insight of the thoughts and perceptions of how individuals evaluated a purpose-built VR experience and to enable comparisons of learning outcomes for both technologies. We used semi-structured interviews; responses were evaluated through thematic analysis and descriptive analysis. Younger participants (aged 13-18 years) emphasized that VR allowed them close and personal access to the animals. Adult participants (aged 19 and above) pointed out the entertainment value of the VR experience while highlighting the potential of its educational aspect; that of enabling visitors to see animals in their natural habitat. While our results require further confirmation due to the limited sample size and restricted circumstances of data collection, we suggest that VR could be usefully introduced as a public education and visitor engagement tool that would benefit the visitors’ learning and overall experience at the zoo.
format	article
author	Zsuzsa Lugosi Phyllis C. Lee
author_facet	Zsuzsa Lugosi Phyllis C. Lee
author_sort	Zsuzsa Lugosi
title	A Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context
title_short	A Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context
title_full	A Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context
title_fullStr	A Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context
title_full_unstemmed	A Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context
title_sort	case study exploring the use of virtual reality in the zoo context
publisher	Animal Behavior and Cognition
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/76006450d88242818325b15df494176f
work_keys_str_mv	AT zsuzsalugosi acasestudyexploringtheuseofvirtualrealityinthezoocontext AT phyllisclee acasestudyexploringtheuseofvirtualrealityinthezoocontext AT zsuzsalugosi casestudyexploringtheuseofvirtualrealityinthezoocontext AT phyllisclee casestudyexploringtheuseofvirtualrealityinthezoocontext
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A Case Study Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality in the Zoo Context

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