The Development of Online System and 3D Models for Buddhist Tourist Attractions : Case Study Temples in Muang District, Kamphaeng phet

Abstract

Temples have played a major role as Thai community centers for a long period of time. Throughout the year, there are activities and events held in the temples in order to invite local people to join. However, the activities may not be successful as expected without the comprehensive public relations. In the technology era, temple presentations in aspects of 3D video including activities on websites may attract cultural tourists to attend the activities. The objectives of this study is to 1) analyze and design the system, 2) develop the system, and 3) evaluate the performance of the online information system and 3D models for Buddhist tourist attractions in Muang District, Kamphaengphet. The system was analyzed and designed through context diagram, data flow diagrams and entity-relationship diagram including database tables. In order to develop the online system, HTML, PHP and MySql database management system were employed. Moreover, eight websites for temples in the sample were developed to work in collaboration with the main online system. Even though the individual websites were developed according to web administers’ requirements, every website consisted of contents such as the temple history, news, buildings in aspects of 2D and 3D including web links to 3D video for each building. In terms of online system evaluation, it was found that in general the test aspects was ordered in descending order as following: functional requirement test (=4.67), functional test (=4.60), security test (=4.47) and usability test (=4.11).