Abstract This article examines the user experience and cognitive workload in digital storytelling through immersive virtual reality (VR). Specifically, it explores the relationship between various aspects of the user experience and their link to the cognitive workload. The investigation was conducted by means of a large-scale evaluation of an underwater archaeological VR experience that simulated diving into the reconstructions of a submerged ancient site combined with interactive 360° video storytelling. The evaluation included 125 participants from two different geographical locations. Results revealed a strong interdependence between all user experience scales, including presence, immersion, engagement, emotional response, state of flow, subjective judgment, and technological adoption of the VR equipment. Moreover, the sense of presence in VR was strongly related to the reported task performance. The article highlights the importance of understanding the user experience and cognitive workload when creating digital storytelling applications in immersive VR.

The quality management system at the University of Sarajevo is guided by the following principles: promotion of constant improvement of the quality of the study programmes and the application of the best educational approaches and practices. The Bologna process gives special importance to outcome based education (OBE), so learning outcomes are established as a new measure of institutional excellence, shifting a change in focus from "What should student do to successfully complete her/his studies?" to "What competences student acquired during her/his studies?" or more precisely "What can student do after finishing her/his studies?". In this paper, after basic information about outcome based education and the importance of this approach with the implementation of the Bologna process in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), an overview of the approach to quality assurance and to study programmes improvements based on learning outcomes is given. Focus on learning outcomes enables the fundamental change of the focus from the teacher to the student, which is one of the foundations of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG).

In order to raise and harmonize the quality standards of pharmaceutical studies at the national level of Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus get closer to the implementation and quality assurance of study programs of EU countries, a team of professors from the University of Sarajevo-Faculty of Pharmacy prepared and was awarded the Erasmus+ project IQPharm. IQPharm (Innovating quality assessment tools for pharmacy studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina) aims at capacity building of quality management, and aims to introduce new tools for quality improvement, digitization and modernization of pharmacy studies at public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including strengthening semi-structured experiential education in line with EU standards and higher education regulations for regulated professions. The introduction of new tools for the assessment of the quality of study programs (KREF) enables the development of evidence-based recommendations for change, modification and innovation of existing methods of knowledge transfer, didactic approaches and curricula. The introduction of a new system of proficiency testing through experiential education (OSCE) sets equal standards at the national level for the learning outcomes of graduate pharmacists. The development of E-platform ensures the digitization and modernization of experiential education management. Experiential education at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be significantly improved through the introduction of the E-platform, by raising the standards of the practice itself and facilitating its implementation by student services, students and their mentors. A special part of this project is the development of free modules, which are extracurricular subjects intended to enrich the knowledge of students and graduates of pharmacy, They should track the labor market trends, and thus make higher education more agile and attractive.

In this study we demonstrate the appropriate use of statistically based filtering methods for feature selection and describe the application to Heart Rate Variability (HRV) features used to distinguish between arrhythmia and normal sinus rhythm electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. The initial set of HRV features is evaluated using both correlation and statistical significance tests. Normality assumption is assessed for each feature in order to select appropriate correlation methods and significance tests. In addition, the impact of outliers on the statistical test results is illustrated by an explorative analysis of correlation before and after outlier removal. Finally, a reduced set of features is selected, and the decision process guided by correlation and statistical significance test results is described and discussed.

The paper evaluates statistical significance of the differences in the feature values necessary to differentiate the signals corresponding to cardiac arrhythmia (AR) and atrial fibrillation (AF). The initial set of heart rate variability (HRV) features includes time and frequency domain metrics, as well as geometric metrics based on the Poincare diagram. Due to non-uniformity of the heart rate signal, frequency domain features are calculated using two approaches: the Lomb-Scargle method for spectral analysis for non-uniform signals, and Welch method for uniform signals, but after the signal interpolation and resampling. Selection of an appropriate statistical test was depending on the distribution of feature values. Normal distribution allowed use of parametric ANOVA test and otherwise non-parametric Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test were used. The statistical tests indicated statistically significant difference between the two observed groups of signals of interest with respect to the evaluated feature. The success of the classification depends on the well-chosen features according to their importance. In the paper, statistical tests resulted in selection of 27 features out of the initial 51. The proposed set of features could be used for the classification between the AR and AF signals to assist diagnosis of the mentioned heart diseases.

Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS) is a way of communicating information in the metaverse [BH22]. Gameplay elements added to these applications turn them into serious games that can offer unique immersive experiences of historical objects and events to museum visitors and online. In this paper, we describe this "Advanced IDS" methodology on a use case of the Trebinje Fortresses VR project. Austrian Hungarian Fortresses around Trebinje, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, are in decay, hardly accessible, and completely neglected. They can be explored in Virtual Reality through an application that combines Interactive Digital Storytelling narrated by officers who used to inhabit them with gameplays where the user becomes a carrier pigeon and carries the messages from one fortress to another while avoiding eagle attacks. After the first mission is successfully completed the user gets a task to accomplish in a fortress underground, and, if successful, gets the opportunity to explore digitized museum exhibits found in the fortress. The application is installed in the Trebinje Museum. The quality of user experience will be proven through an evaluation study.

Detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) presents one of the main tasks of modern cardiology. In the last few years, the deep learning (DL) emerges as the most frequent approach for accomplishing the task. When deciding to apply DL model for AF detection researchers are facing different choices bringing specific advantages but also imposing specific restrictions. The expansion of publishing, and advancements in this field, demand frequent review of the state of the art. The initial set of 370 papers filtered by keywords of interest, were systematically narrowed to 32 papers in focus. The objective of the paper is to present a comprehensive overview of commonly used ECG databases, signal preprocessing techniques, inputs formatting, DL models used, choice of output classes, and performance metrics achieved.

Archaeological sites from prehistory are very important for understanding humanity. However, they are very difficult to understand for common visitors. We see traces of excavations and fragments of archaeological findings, but we do not grasp their meaning. Interactive digital storytelling has potential to present the significance of these sites and make them attractive and educational at the same time. We will show this through the case study of Crvena stijena in Montenegro, presented in a Virtual Reality application. Through interactive stories, gameplay and digital replicas of archaeological findings the users obtain better perception of the physical site and are attracted to visit the museum.

A rapid increase in development and use of Extended Reality applications for all areas of life is expected in metaverse age. Many museums are in the last decade introducing digital content in their exhibitions. They hired digital curators to establish connection with developers and IT industry. Extended Reality technologies enable museum visitors to experience the topics of exhibitions, see original appearances of exhibits and travel to the past through Virtual Reality headsets or Augmented Reality applications on mobile devices. In this paper we show an example of good practice, describing the application Battle on Neretva VR installed in the Museum in Jablanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We present the application design and development workflow and show the impressions of museum management and visitors after introducing it in the exhibition. This workflow can be replicated to any museum topic or collection.

The application of spectral analysis methods to the heart rate (HR) signal is challenging due to the nature of the signal itself, which is non-uniform. Methods for non-uniform signals can be applied directly, whilst the methods designed for uniform signals can be used after the signal is adequately preprocessed beforehand. Preprocessing consists of interpolation and resampling. In this paper, we have implemented a tool for explorative evaluation of various spectral analysis methods applied to HR signal. The tool is based on heat maps used for visualization of frequency metrics for the ECG signals selected from the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database. Evaluated methods are the Lomb-Scargle method for nonuniform signal analysis and Welch's method which is applied in conjunction with different interpolation approaches. A set of frequency-domain metrics are evaluated with the proposed tool for exploratory analysis. The evaluation indicates that the Lomb-Scargle method produces a loss of information in certain frequency bands. Furthermore, Welch method better demonstrates the difference in spectral power metrics for frequency bands of interest, irrespective of the type of interpolation used.

Digital technologies in the modern era are almost mandatory for the presentation of all types of cultural heritage. Virtual depictions of crafts and traditions offer the users the possibility of time travel, taking them to the past through the use of 3D reconstructions of cultural monuments and sites. However, digital resources alone are not enough to adequately present cultural heritage. Additional information on the historical context in the form of stories, virtual reconstructions, and digitized objects is needed. All of this can be implemented using a digital multimedia presentation technique called digital storytelling. Nowadays, an integral part of many museum exhibitions is interactive digital storytelling. This paper gives an overview of the techniques and discusses different means of facilitating interaction on digital storytelling applications for virtual cultural heritage presentations. We describe the ways in which natural interaction and interaction via eXtended Reality (Virtual and Augmented Reality) applications for cultural heritage are made possible. Users will find the stories told through these applications educational and entertaining at the same time. Through user-experience studies, we measure the user edutainment level and present how users react to implemented interactions.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) has a very picturesque past. Founded in 11th century, it has always been a crossroads of faiths and civilizations. Extended Reality (XR) technologies can finally take us to time travel into this history, enable us to experience past events and meet historical characters. In this paper, we overview the latest applications we developed that use Virtual Reality (VR) video, Virtual and Augmented Reality (AR) for interactive digital storytelling about BH history. “Nine dissidents” is the first BH VR documentary, tackling a still tricky subject of dissidents in the Socialist Yugoslavia, artists and writers falsely accused, persecuted and still forbidden. “Virtual Museum of Old Crafts” aims to present and preserve crafts intangible heritage through Virtual Reality. “Battle on Neretva VR” is recreating a famous WWII battle offering the users to experience it and meet comrade Tito, the commander of the Yugoslav Liberation Army. “Sarajevo 5D” shows the cultural monuments from Sarajevo that do not exist anymore in physical form using Augmented Reality. Through user experience studies, we measure the user immersion and edutainment of these applications and show the potential of XR for the presentation and preservation of cultural heritage.