Reality as Imagined: Design and Evaluation of a TeleAbsence-Driven Extended Reality Experience for (Re) Interpreting Urban Cultural Heritage Narratives Across Time

Yaning Li; Sirui Wang; Ximu Sun; Lei Yang; Tingting Zhu; Yuexi Chen; Ke Zhao; Yiqing Zhao; Meng Li; RAY LC

doi:10.1080/10447318.2025.2554296

Reality as Imagined: Design and Evaluation of a TeleAbsence-Driven Extended Reality Experience for (Re) Interpreting Urban Cultural Heritage Narratives Across Time

Yaning Li, Sirui Wang, Ximu Sun, Lei Yang, Tingting Zhu, Yuexi Chen, Ke Zhao, Yiqing Zhao, Meng Li, RAY LC^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Creative Media

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Visitors to Urban Cultural Heritage (UCH) often encounter official narratives but not the imaginations and relationships shaping its intangible aspects. Existing immersive experiences emphasize historical realities, overlooking personal and collective imaginations that shift with rapid development. To address this, we designed an Extended Reality (XR) experience around eight Hong Kong landmarks, enabling transitions between virtual and mixed-reality environments where users explore UCH narratives across past, present, and future. These narratives integrate (1) historical documentation with 360° visualizations and (2) images created in workshops supported by Generative AI tools. A mixed-method study with 24 participants examined their experiences and reflections. Results revealed deep immersion in both real and imagined worlds, as well as personal reinterpretations of UCH. This work demonstrates how XR can blend reality and imagination within one immersive experience and highlights design implications for archiving human imagination as an intangible form of cultural heritage.
© 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Original language	English
Number of pages	30
Journal	International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
Online published	17 Sept 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2025.2554296
Publication status	Online published - 17 Sept 2025

Funding

This research is supported by the City University of Hong Kong Teaching Development Grant [6000901], Hong Kong Research Grants Council Theme-based Research Scheme [T45-205/21-N], National Key R & D Program of China (China-Italy Joint Laboratory for Sustainable Conservation and Regeneration of Urban and Rural Heritage) [2024YFE0105300], the MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Humanities and Social Sciences Grant [24YJC840053], Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Team (Application Research and Innovation Team of Artificial Intelligence Technology in the Protection and Development of Settlements) [2024RS-CXTD-14], Natural Science Foundation of Shananxi Provinve of China [2025JC-YBON-770], and National Training Program of Innovation for Undergraduates.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Research Keywords

Urban cultural heritage narratives
extended reality
TeleAbsence
generative AI
human–computer interaction

Publisher's Copyright Statement

COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction on 17 Sept 2025, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10447318.2025.2554296.

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

Access Output

10.1080/10447318.2025.2554296

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

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Embargoed Document

332400610.pdf
Post-print, 1.28 MB
Embargo ends: 17/09/26

TDG(CityU): Words to Images to Prototypes: Generative AI Tools for Team Project-based Iterative Prototyping
LC, R. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator)
1/01/25 → …
Project: Research
TBRS-ExtU-Lead: Building Platform Technologies for Symbiotic Creativity in Hong Kong
Guo, Y. (Main Project Coordinator [External]) & ALLEN, R. W. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator)
1/11/21 → …
Project: Research

Cite this

Li, Y., Wang, S., Sun, X., Yang, L., Zhu, T., Chen, Y., Zhao, K., Zhao, Y., Li, M., & LC, RAY. (2025). Reality as Imagined: Design and Evaluation of a TeleAbsence-Driven Extended Reality Experience for (Re) Interpreting Urban Cultural Heritage Narratives Across Time. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2025.2554296

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abstract = "Visitors to Urban Cultural Heritage (UCH) often encounter official narratives but not the imaginations and relationships shaping its intangible aspects. Existing immersive experiences emphasize historical realities, overlooking personal and collective imaginations that shift with rapid development. To address this, we designed an Extended Reality (XR) experience around eight Hong Kong landmarks, enabling transitions between virtual and mixed-reality environments where users explore UCH narratives across past, present, and future. These narratives integrate (1) historical documentation with 360° visualizations and (2) images created in workshops supported by Generative AI tools. A mixed-method study with 24 participants examined their experiences and reflections. Results revealed deep immersion in both real and imagined worlds, as well as personal reinterpretations of UCH. This work demonstrates how XR can blend reality and imagination within one immersive experience and highlights design implications for archiving human imagination as an intangible form of cultural heritage.{\textcopyright} 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC",

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Reality as Imagined: Design and Evaluation of a TeleAbsence-Driven Extended Reality Experience for (Re) Interpreting Urban Cultural Heritage Narratives Across Time. / Li, Yaning; Wang, Sirui; Sun, Ximu et al.
In: International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 17.09.2025.

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

TY - JOUR

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T2 - Design and Evaluation of a TeleAbsence-Driven Extended Reality Experience for (Re) Interpreting Urban Cultural Heritage Narratives Across Time

AU - Li, Yaning

AU - Wang, Sirui

AU - Sun, Ximu

AU - Yang, Lei

AU - Zhu, Tingting

AU - Chen, Yuexi

AU - Zhao, Ke

AU - Zhao, Yiqing

AU - Li, Meng

AU - LC, RAY

PY - 2025/9/17

Y1 - 2025/9/17

N2 - Visitors to Urban Cultural Heritage (UCH) often encounter official narratives but not the imaginations and relationships shaping its intangible aspects. Existing immersive experiences emphasize historical realities, overlooking personal and collective imaginations that shift with rapid development. To address this, we designed an Extended Reality (XR) experience around eight Hong Kong landmarks, enabling transitions between virtual and mixed-reality environments where users explore UCH narratives across past, present, and future. These narratives integrate (1) historical documentation with 360° visualizations and (2) images created in workshops supported by Generative AI tools. A mixed-method study with 24 participants examined their experiences and reflections. Results revealed deep immersion in both real and imagined worlds, as well as personal reinterpretations of UCH. This work demonstrates how XR can blend reality and imagination within one immersive experience and highlights design implications for archiving human imagination as an intangible form of cultural heritage.© 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

AB - Visitors to Urban Cultural Heritage (UCH) often encounter official narratives but not the imaginations and relationships shaping its intangible aspects. Existing immersive experiences emphasize historical realities, overlooking personal and collective imaginations that shift with rapid development. To address this, we designed an Extended Reality (XR) experience around eight Hong Kong landmarks, enabling transitions between virtual and mixed-reality environments where users explore UCH narratives across past, present, and future. These narratives integrate (1) historical documentation with 360° visualizations and (2) images created in workshops supported by Generative AI tools. A mixed-method study with 24 participants examined their experiences and reflections. Results revealed deep immersion in both real and imagined worlds, as well as personal reinterpretations of UCH. This work demonstrates how XR can blend reality and imagination within one immersive experience and highlights design implications for archiving human imagination as an intangible form of cultural heritage.© 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

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KW - extended reality

KW - TeleAbsence

KW - generative AI

KW - human–computer interaction

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DO - 10.1080/10447318.2025.2554296

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 1044-7318

JO - International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction

JF - International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction

ER -

Reality as Imagined: Design and Evaluation of a TeleAbsence-Driven Extended Reality Experience for (Re) Interpreting Urban Cultural Heritage Narratives Across Time

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Embargoed Document

Fingerprint

Projects

TDG(CityU): Words to Images to Prototypes: Generative AI Tools for Team Project-based Iterative Prototyping

TBRS-ExtU-Lead: Building Platform Technologies for Symbiotic Creativity in Hong Kong

Cite this