A Study of the Effects of Spatial Arrangements and Interactive Medias on Presence, Involvement and Emotion in Senior Visitors within a Virtual Art Gallery

With the rapid development of the Internet, an increasing number of art activities are being carried out online. Therefore, the elderly can visit an online art gallery from home to enjoy browsing various exhibitions and artworks. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of spatial arrangements and interactive medias on presence, involvement, and emotion to propose better principles for senior visitors in virtual art galleries. A virtual art gallery containing paintings, pottery and statues was established. A hypothesized model was constructed for evaluating the effects of spatial arrangements and interactive Medias on presence, involvement and emotion in senior visitors, and a three-step mediation analysis using regression was applied while accounting for the hierarchical structure of the data. The results showed that spatial arrangement and interactive media are essential factors in designing virtual art galleries for senior visitors. A virtual art gallery with thematic arrangement based on historical background can help senior visitors construct the spatial cognitive map quickly; additionally, interactive oral Medias provide easy semantic recognition and understanding, which can easily increase positive feelings of presence. When the degree of immersion increases, senior visitors feel interested, excited and satisfied, and resulting in positive involvement and emotion.