Comparing Interaction Structures for User Experience in XR Cultural Heritage Learning

Extended Reality (XR) is increasingly used to support learning experiences in cultural heritage education, but how learners interact with XR content—rather than the sophistication of the underlying technology—can meaningfully shape the quality of the learning experience. This study investigates the effects of interaction structure on cultural heritage learning in XR. A HoloLens 2 XR application for Gyeongbokgung Palace was developed using three interaction conditions: Information-Presentation (Text+Image), Inquiry-Based Exploration (QA), and Assessment-Participation (Quiz). All content was pre-generated using a Large Language Model (LLM) to hold information constant across conditions, ensuring that any observed differences in user experience could be attributed to interaction structure rather than to content. Participants experienced all three interaction types in a partially counterbalanced order, and their interest, immersion, ease of use, perceived learning comprehension, intention to reuse, and perceived difficulty were assessed. The results revealed distinct strengths for each interaction structure. Quiz generated higher preference for interest and immersion, but was also rated the most cognitively demanding condition. Text+Image achieved the highest ease-of-use ratings. QA received the numerically highest preference for perceived learning comprehension, but the difference across conditions was not statistically significant, indicating that this study did not detect a reliable preference difference on this dimension. Within this single-site, single-device study, these findings indicate that interaction structure was associated with systematically different user experience profiles, even when the underlying content was held constant. The study provides design implications for structuring interaction in cultural heritage XR learning environments.