A Study on the Virtual Delivery of Cultural Courtesy: AR Services for Packaging

Abstract

For a long time, gift packaging has been a means of conveying the sender’s feeling and message just as important as the gift itself. This has been a part of social communication mean for a long time especially in East Asian societies. Therefore, packaging used to be a form of cultural communication which carries much personal and social meaning by using all kinds of material. In the twenty-first century, under the social atmosphere of sustainability, such cultural communication is regarded as vain, and the use of recycled packaging materials or the omission of packaging itself is increasingly common. Also, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more difficult to meet face-to-face and convey thankful and beloved feelings.

The aim of this research is to study how non-material communication can contribute to people’s emotional satisfaction within the object exchange. The purpose is to develop a virtual packaging service using augmented reality (AR) technology, while reflecting people’s cultural and personal needs, as a sustainable user experience (UX) approach. This research analyzes user perceptions and attitudes towards virtual packaging through a quantitative study of 200 participants and evaluates users’ acceptability and cultural needs for immaterial packaging. Based on this, a new AR packaging service is developed which can bring psychological and spiritual satisfaction to people, unlike virtual messages and material packaging which have simple delivery purposes.

This research will promote the use of AR technology as a cultural bridge between physical packaging and virtual communication delivering people’s hopes and cheerful minds, as well as a factor for sustainable development and the green economy.