Abstract
Immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), enhance learning by enabling interactive exploration in fully immersive environments. Virtual heritage museums are an area that users from different demographics can benefit from, especially if they are unable to visit the museum physically. Within the metaverse, such museums further enable real-time social interaction and exploration of cultural content across different platforms, making them available to a wide range of users. Older adults represent an important user group that can benefit from such immersive spaces. However, to ensure that the experience in a metaverse museum is inclusive, accessibility must be prioritised. As the metaverse is still emerging, new solutions need to be offered to overcome barriers encountered by users with different accessibility needs, especially for older adults in VR due to the unfamiliar interaction paradigms. In this paper, we analyse how older adults perceive a prototype of a metaverse museum of a technological heritage museum in VR in terms of accessibility and user experience. The prototype was iteratively improved based on an evaluation of an initial version of this metaverse museum. Besides implementing new design techniques related to accessibility, improvements include new content related to specific museum artefacts and interior design. Comparative analysis of pre- and post-improvement ratings indicates that the design changes led to measurable enhancements in perceived accessibility and ease of use for older participants. These findings demonstrate that targeted, user-centred design improvements can reduce accessibility barriers and foster more inclusive engagement for older adults in VR. The results highlight key considerations for the development of metaverse museums as educational spaces, underscoring their potential to make cultural heritage more accessible to diverse audiences.
