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  <record>
    <language>eng</language>
    <publisher>ERSA</publisher>
    <journalTitle>REGION</journalTitle>
    <eissn>2409-5370</eissn>
    <publicationDate>2026-10-10</publicationDate>
    <volume>13</volume>
    <issue>2</issue>
    <startPage>151</startPage>
    <endPage>172</endPage>
    <doi>10.18335/region.v13i2.651</doi>
    <publisherRecordId>782</publisherRecordId>
    <title language="eng">Digital Innovation in Italian Museums:: Visitor Experiences with AR/VR across Regional Contexts</title>
    <authors>
      <author>
        <name>Assia Liberatore</name>
        <email>assia.liberatore@gmail.com</email>
        <affiliationId>0</affiliationId>
      </author>
      <author>
        <name>Ana Elisa De Sousa</name>
        <email>ana.c.sousa@ipleiria.pt</email>
        <affiliationId>1</affiliationId>
      </author>
      <author>
        <name>Paula Cardoso</name>
        <email>paula.cardoso@ipleiria.pt</email>
        <affiliationId>2</affiliationId>
      </author>
    </authors>
    <affiliationsList>
      <affiliationName affiliationId="0">University of Siena</affiliationName>
      <affiliationName affiliationId="1">Instituto Politécnico de Leiria</affiliationName>
      <affiliationName affiliationId="2">Instituto Politécnico de Leiria; Universidade Aberta</affiliationName>
    </affiliationsList>
<abstract language="eng"><p>This paper examines the adoption of immersive 
          technologies -- Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual 
          Reality (VR) -- in Italian museums, focusing on how 
          digital tools shape visitor experiences across 
          different regional contexts. Building on earlier 
          exploratory work conducted through online surveys 
          and preliminary field research in winter 2024--25, 
          the study draws on survey data collected in September 
          2025 from visitors across museums located in diverse 
          territorial and institutional settings. The analysis 
          combines descriptive statistics, regression models, 
          and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to investigate 
          the relationships between immersive technologies, 
          visitor satisfaction, emotional engagement, post-visit 
          understanding, and future behavioural intentions. 
          The findings indicate that AR/VR experiences are 
          positively and consistently associated with visitor 
          satisfaction, emotional engagement, and cognitive 
          outcomes across the sampled institutions. Emotional 
          engagement and post-visit understanding emerge 
          as the strongest predictors of positive evaluations 
          and future intentions, while pre-visit expectations 
          and familiarity with immersive technologies play 
          secondary but significant roles. The results also 
          indicate territorial variation in the adoption 
          and perceived quality of immersive technologies, 
          with patterns varying across regional and institutional 
          contexts. Rather than suggesting uniform patterns 
          of digital transformation, the study highlights 
          how immersive experiences are associated with specific 
          regional and institutional conditions that warrant 
          further investigation. By combining experiential 
          and territorial perspectives, the paper contributes 
          to current debates on digital transformation in 
          cultural heritage and smart cultural tourism. The 
          findings suggest that the perceived value of immersive 
          technologies is associated not only with technological 
          availability, but also with the quality of narrative 
          design and the broader contextual conditions of 
          each institution. Future research may extend this 
          work through longitudinal approaches and simulation 
          models exploring the diffusion of AR/VR under different 
          policy and funding scenarios.</p> </abstract>
<fullTextUrl format="html">https://openjournals.wu.ac.at/ojs/index.php/region/article/view/651/version/782</fullTextUrl>
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