Extended Reality (XR) technologies offer exciting opportunities for cultural heritage, allowing stories and artifacts to come to life in immersive, interactive ways. However, designing meaningful XR experiences—especially those that combine physical and digital interaction—is not straightforward, especially for designers with limited technical expertise. This thesis addresses that challenge by developing a toolkit that supports designers in creating tangible Mixed Reality experiences for cultural heritage contexts.
The goal of this project was to explore how tangible interaction and XR can be combined in a way that feels natural and intuitive, particularly in museum settings where visitors may not be familiar with XR technologies. Through research and design experimentation, the project led to the creation of the HIT-KIT: a design toolkit intended to lower the threshold for designing meaningful XR heritage experiences using tangible interaction. The toolkit includes beginner-friendly tutorials, a digital workbook to guide the user through the design process, a card deck to offer inspiration and support, and digital building blocks that allow for quick prototyping
The HIT-KIT was developed alongside a case study: the design of The Calculator’s Desk, an interactive museum experience that uses tangible Mixed Reality to explore the story behind analog calculators. The design process of this experience offered valuable insights into the challenges of designing for XR and heritage, and helped shape the toolkit’s structure and content.
While the current version of the toolkit is still conceptual, it lays the foundation for further development into a practical and accessible design method. This project shows that such a toolkit can make working with XR more approachable, especially for those who are new to this field.
Looking ahead, the toolkit could be further developed and tested with a wider range of users, including museum professionals and exhibition designers. This would help tailor the content to different contexts and skill levels, and expand its relevance beyond TU Delft. Additionally, the approach could be applied to other heritage narratives to test how well it works across different themes and artifacts.
In summary, this thesis contributes to the field of design for cultural heritage by offering a practical toolkit for combining tangible interaction with XR. This way, designers can be empowered to create more engaging and meaningful heritage experiences.