Enhancing Dvaravati-Khmer Cultural Tourism through AR: A Case Study in Thailand

2.1 AR applications in cultural heritage

Several applications on augmented reality have been developed for cultural tourism, particularly in destinations that are rich in historical heritage. An example is an application for augmented reality in Thai Buddhist temples, which provides 4D narratives and 3D objects such as sacred ones.⁴ Participants wanted to explore the temple history based on their personal interests which was only achievable in AR (Research participants expressed that what they enjoyed about AR, here was the freedom to research temple history that interested them). Another project in the Angkor-Phimai cultural corridor integrates augmented reality to showcase ancient Khmer buildings and business connections.¹⁰ These apps emphasize how AR can bridge static displays and interactive, visitor-focused experiences.

However, most of the existing AR systems are only working in a single site and do not scale into multiple locations. The sculpture’s small scale is a disadvantage that hinders them from conveying larger historical stories including Dvaravati and Khmer history’ interconnected categories. This gap will be addressed through the development of an augmented reality app which includes various province-wide sites, creating one trail between different heritage sites.

2.2 Gamification in tourism and learning

Gamification usage in tourism has become common to foster visitor engagement through interactive games and rewarding mechanisms. For example, when augmented reality (AR) applications were tried in heritage tourism at South Korea, game-like features such as task fulfilling and point-based system highly increased participant engagement and satisfaction.⁹ In the field of educational tourism, a digital rally system has been used in order to attract visitors to explore and learn new things.¹¹ These approaches align with the structure of our application, in-game framework with activity-based engagements to foster active interaction toward Dvaravati-Khmer cultural heritage.

Nonetheless, few AR applications with game-like contents have been assessed for their effectiveness in cultural learning. Most of the research focuses on usability and satisfaction alone, but none focused on factors like retention of historical knowledge or willingness to revisit heritage sites. This is not the case in our framework, which evaluates user satisfaction as well as learning effectiveness and engagement efficiency.

2.3 AR and user-centered design

Successful AR applications for cultural tourism depend upon following user-centred design principles. Research suggests that end-user-oriented applications, such as multilingual applications, intuitive layout design, and adaptive content mechanisms are more successful, in terms of take-up rates.¹² For instance, a study on AR in primary school excursions emphasized the importance of fitting material to developmental stages of students to ensure good learning results.⁸ Our APP follows these principles, by incorporating input from different stakeholders such as tourists, guides and educators throughout the Design Thinking methodology.

In addition, while existing AR applications routinely rely on generalpurpose development platforms, we have sought to utilize domain-specific tools like Unity and the Vuforia SDK for enhancing performance within cultural heritage contexts. This approach ensures robust AR object detection and seamless 360-degree VR content blending, enhancing overall usability.

The AR Cultural application, which we propose in this article, is different from previous efforts by combining cross-site connectivity, educational experiences with gaming elements and a strong focus on the user centered design. Unlike independent AR guides, our system provides a unified experience across multiple heritage sites, which emphasizes the historical-cultural relations along Dvaravati-Khmer route. Secondly, our multi-dimensional approach that takes into account efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction provides a more comprehensive view of the impact of AR on cultural tourism than previous studies. These contributions place our work as a scalable and replicable example of digital heritage preservation and interactive tourism.

2.4 Dvaravati-Khmer civilizations overview

Both Dvaravati and Khmer civilizations were dominant forces shaping Southeast Asia’s culture and politics over a millennium, from the 6th to 13th centuries. The Dvaravati civilization, found primarily in what is now Thailand, was strongly influenced by Indian Buddhism; it is noted for its distinctive artwork, which includes stucco reliefs and terracotta votive tablets Ketkong.¹ Meanwhile, the Khmer Empire, which was located in Cambodia at the time, pushed its frontier over Thailand and built Prasat Phanom Rung and Phimai Historical Park.²

These cultures were connected by trade, religion, and the exchange of artistic traditions, producing a shared cultural heritage that spanned several regions. For instance, the Buddhist iconography of Dvaravati was often decorated with Khmer elements, while Khmer temple construction was said to have borrowed from Dvaravati’s town planning.⁶ While significant sites along this cultural corridor exist and are of great historical value, few of these places are fully leveraged for tourism due to limited interpretive resources, further emphasizing the need for creative solutions like the AR Cultural app.

2.5 Cultural tourism and significance

Cultural tourism functions as an important tool for the preservation of heritage, which in turn leads to economic development and enhances intercultural understanding.³ But traditional approaches, like static exhibits and written tours, don’t always connect with diverse learners or young people.

The AR Cultural app lifts this burden by offering self-directed, immersive exploration. For instance, 360-degree VR feature offers to be engaged by simulated past environments and electronic rally format to be engaged in an activity-based learning process. These developments are consistent with broader trends of experiential tourism, in which travellers are looking for meaningful and hands-on ways to interact with heritage environments.⁵ chapter touches on the historical background and design thinking principles, which provide the basis for understanding how and why of app emerged as well as its impact. The framework and process of the AR Culturalis elaborated in the next section.

3.1 AR and VR integration in the application

The application combines AR object scanning and 360° VR site-viewing to create an integrated experience. The AR scan module uses computer vision extracts 2D objects and overlays the respective 3D models on them. the system finds an artifact from the artifact database and registers it to agree in pose with the live object. The overall system architecture of the AR Cultural application, including the data layer, backend services, frontend modules, and proposed gamification features, is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. AR cultural application architecture.

3.2 User-Centric Design of AR/VR learning tools

The interface follows User-Centered Design (UCD) principles, with a focus on accessibility and engagement. Key features include:

3.3 Design thinking-driven development framework

The development continued through prototype iterations, where each iteration added features based on user feedback. For example, early evaluations revealed lags in ก which resulted in enhancement of the computer vision processing pipeline. The previous prototype achieved a mean detection delay of 1.2 seconds, which is within acceptable time-of-response guidelines.⁷

This architecture ensures that the application delivers fun experiences as well as takes on real-world challenges in cultural tourism. The second part will assess its field performance.

4.1 Quantitative results

Efficiency: The application showed strong performance, achieving an average load time of 2.3 seconds and a task completion rate of 92%. Key metrics are summarized in Table 1.

Effectiveness: Participants indicated a 40% rise in retention of historical knowledge after engagement, where the AR artifact scanning (AR_scan) and VR site tours (VR_360) were assessed as the most effective ( $\stackrel{-}{\mathrm{X}}$ = 4.14, S.D. = 0.80). The digital rally system (Rally4prov) markedly increased participation, with 85% of users finishing all tasks connected to provinces.

Satisfaction: User interface design (UIfriendly) achieved the greatest level of user contentment ( $\stackrel{-}{\mathrm{X}}$ = 4.19, S.D. = 0.88), while the overall experience scored 4.01 (S.D. = 1.02). Notably, 78% expressed intent to recommend the application.

4.2 Qualitative insights

Figure 3. Comparing user satisfaction scores (5-level rating) across application features: AR scanning, VR 360, Rally (4 provinces), and user-friendly interface.

Figure 4. The Scatter plot showing the relationship between efficiency scores and effectiveness scores of the AR Cultural application.

4.3 Quantitative results

The results validate the application’s dual utility as both a tourism tool and an educational resource. The high efficiency scores ( $\stackrel{-}{\mathrm{X}}$ = 4.10) indicate successful optimization of AR/VR technologies, and the effectiveness metrics substantiate its educational worth. The patterns of satisfaction correspond with earlier research on gamified education⁸ yet our inter-province merging constitutes an original advancement.

5.1 Potential new application scenarios for the AR cultural

The framework has potential for application to additional cultural itineraries or instructional settings beyond its present boundaries. For example:

Multi-Civilization Integration: Expanding the scope of the application to encompass the Srivijaya or Hariphunchai civilizations would highlight the interconnected trade networks of Southeast Asia. A comparative AR visualization of architectural styles (e.g., Dvaravati stupas vs. Khmer prangs) might deepen historical understanding.¹⁵

Classroom Hybrid Learning: Teachers could use the AR module to conduct virtual field trips, supplementing textbook content with immersive site explorations. Initial trials adding new content to Thai history courses have yielded positive results in boosting pupil participation.¹⁶

Community Co-Creation: Community experts, such as local craftsmen or historical scholars, may add crowd sourced augmented reality material, including labeling cultural objects with traditional stories. This aligns with participatory heritage preservation models.¹⁷

5.2 Ethical considerations in the development and use of the application

Using augmented reality in cultural tourism generates ethical issues that need to be examined. One is the risk digital reconstructions will simplify or even misrepresent historic stories. For instance, an augmented reality model for a Dvaravati relic may inadvertently exclude hat is contested in terms of its spiritual significance amidst conflicting versions.¹⁸ In our case, we involved academic historians for content checking, but it remains important to maintain ongoing relationships with cultural guardians. Privacy Another major point is data privacy for users that take part in the gamified rally system. While the app is designed to anonymize personal information, monitoring movement across provinces could in theory allow it to reveal travel patterns. Open access data policies and opt-in consents should be emphasized in future updates.¹⁹

Finally, there is the potential for technology to exacerbate inequalities in heritage access. In remote locations with limited internet access, the application’s cloud features might go unsupported and to the detriment of those nearby. This might be tackled by offline use, or by a “soft” AR version (e.g., trigger-based markers).²⁰

Such reflections bring to the surface the need for a fair use approach to AR, which seeks to utilise its potential without compromising cultural authenticity and individual privileges. Further research could adopt participatory design approaches to better harmonise technological innovation with ethical stewardship.