Future Work

At various stages during the development process of the cave navigation component, a number of possible extensions were considered or suggested. It is likely that these features would improve the usability and user experience of the system. However, for various reasons, these features could not be implemented during this project so they are detailed below for future work.

• Audio

  
  

  Users felt that the inclusion of audio in the system would have a large, positive impact on the experience of using the system. Ambient sounds such as soft wind or chirping crickets could be added to improve a user's immersion in the environment. Voice over sounds could be used to impart relevant information to the user when they view specific items of artwork. An important aspect to note, though, is that users felt these audio elements should be optional and that there should be a button to mute the sounds if the user so desires.




• Zoom on Lightbox

  
  

  Since the system is intended to be used by both scholars and researchers it is conceivable that users may wish to study the finer details of the artwork. Therefore, they should be able to zoom into the images of the art in order to better examine them.




• Edit Mode Improvements

  
  

  The results of the user testing showed that a number of users were frustrated by the small edit button. This was purposefully implemented in to prevent general users from adding erroneous information to the site. However, considering the impact that it had on the user experience, this button should be made bigger and easier to find and access to the Edit mode should be controlled in a different way. The Edit button should prompt a user to login to the server before they are able to make any changes to the site. This will ensure that all of the information on the site is accurate.

  
  

  A major feature that needs to be added to the system, but was not implemented due to time constraints, is the ability to add images to existing tags when in edit mode. This feature will allow users to select a tag and link images from the server to that tag in much the same way that adding an image to a newly created tag works.

  
  

  During user testing, users noted that they felt the functionality to delete a created tag or to remove images from a tag should be included in the Edit mode. The inclusion of this feature would make the need for improved access control to the Edit mode a greater priority.

  
  

  A feature that was overlooked in implementation was that of allowing users to add captions to images when they are added to tags. This can be implemented through an editable dialogue box that accompanies the box to select an image to add.




• Other caves

  
  

  More heritage sites need to be added to the system to show that it is extensible. Users will be able to choose which cave to view through a selection page. This was not incorporated in this project due to time constraints.




• Improved Controls Information

  
  

  The controls information needs to be displayed in a way that allows new users to easily refer back to it and experienced users to remove it so that it does not take up space on the page. This can be done by placing the information on a sliding pane that users can choose to have open or closed. The important di erence between this method and the currently employed method of using a dialogue box is that the new method would allow novice users to continue interacting with the cave while the controls are open.




• Interaction with other components

  
  

  Functionality to interact with the Storytelling and Guided Tours components of the website would be expected to greatly improve the experience of the website in its entirety.

  
  

  Features that would enable this include a workspace that maintains its state between the pages. This workspace would enable users to collect information found on any of the components on the site in one place and export it in their chosen format.

  
  

  Another possible way of integrating the Cave Navigation and StoryTelling components would be to have links present in both components if an image is used in both. This means that if a user is reading a story containing an image that is also displayed in a cave, they will see a link stating that they can see where this image is found in the cave and that link will take them to the cave, where the tag linked to the image in question will be highlighted. If a user is looking at an image in a cave that is also used in a story, a link will take them to that particular story.

  
  

  Integration with the Guided Tours component can be achieved by allowing users to take a tour of the images in a cave. Another way of integrating the two components would be allowing a user creating a tour to record their navigation through a cave and then to have this replayed in the tour.




• Information with images

  
  

  To enhance the learning experience provided by the component, the image overlay can include information about the artwork in the image. This content would have to be created or added by users when they create new tags and so improved access control to the Edit mode would help assure the accuracy of the information.