PhD Candidate Chi Liu and Associate Professor Rochus Hinkel have co-authored and presented a paper titled “Exploring Appropriate Passive Haptic Mixed Reality Experiences for Indigenous Digital Cultural Artefacts within Community Contexts” at the International Conference on eXtended Reality (XR Salento 2026). This work is currently under review for publication with Springer.

As part of Chi’s PhD project, this research explores novel artistic mixed reality (MR) artefact experiences to support Indigenous communities in accessing, experiencing, and sharing their cultural artefacts.

As preparatory work for future Indigenous community-led evaluation and co-development, the research employs commercially available MR headsets and accessories alongside 3D scanning and 3D printing technologies to create interactive artefact experiences, particularly relevant in cases where the original objects have been removed from their communities or securely stored and therefore inaccessible to both community members and the public.

The experiments focus on passive haptic MR technology, which overlays virtual layers onto non-textured physical proxy objects to provide ephemeral visual and haptic sensations of objects, while allowing users to maintain visual access to their surrounding environments through MR headsets. The research develops and examines these experiences beyond controlled laboratory settings, highlighting its implementation practicalities and perceptual qualities.

Drawing on practical and experiential findings, we propose technology selection guidelines for three Indigenous community use scenarios and aim to identify directions for future research and industrial development in contextually responsive MR cultural heritage experiences.