Cultural heritage exhibitions often struggle to sustain attention and support reflective engagement. Physical exhibitions rely on fixed interpretive aids that lack adaptability to individual backgrounds or curiosity, and their effectiveness depends heavily on a visitor's Personal Context, prior knowledge, and cultural literacy. Meanwhile, digital exhibitions prioritize convenience and accessibility but risk weakening the Physical and Social Contexts that define embodied cultural experience. WhiteTesseract addresses this gap by enabling in-situ interpretation through high-resolution XR and conversational AI. The system integrates spatial intelligence via artwork recognition to allow visitors to selectively reduce environmental distractions (via diminished reality) and engage in context-aware dialogue (via large language models). The goal is to preserve the richness of the physical and social environment while providing a flexible space for personal reflection, enhancing Personal Context without compromising physical authenticity. We deployed the system in a Claude Monet exhibition and conducted a controlled user study with 26 participants. Quantitative results showed that WhiteTesseract modulation significantly increased average viewing duration from 35.3 to 98.3 seconds (p < 0.001). Analysis of 529 visitor-AI interactions revealed that 60% extended beyond factual queries to include analytical, emotional, and comparative inquiries. These findings demonstrate how XR and AI can enrich the physical exhibition experience by supporting deeper, more personalized engagement without displacing the embodied value of cultural heritage. We discuss technical and social constraints for real-world deployment and limitations of our controlled setting.

翻译：文化遗产展览常常难以维持观众的注意力并支持反思性参与。实体展览依赖固定的阐释辅助工具，缺乏对个体背景或好奇心的适应性，其效果严重依赖于参观者的个人语境、先前知识与文化素养。与此同时，数字展览优先考虑便利性与可及性，却可能削弱定义具身文化体验的物理语境与社会语境。WhiteTesseract通过高分辨率扩展现实与对话式人工智能实现现场阐释，填补了这一空白。该系统通过艺术品识别整合空间智能，使参观者能够选择性减少环境干扰（通过削弱现实技术）并参与语境感知对话（通过大语言模型）。其目标是在保留物理与社会环境丰富性的同时，为个人反思提供灵活空间，强化个人语境而不牺牲物理真实性。我们在一场克劳德·莫奈展览中部署了该系统，并开展了一项包含26名参与者的受控用户研究。定量结果表明，WhiteTesseract的调控将平均观看时长从35.3秒显著提升至98.3秒（p < 0.001）。对529次参观者-人工智能交互的分析显示，60%的交互超越了事实性查询，涉及分析性、情感性与比较性追问。这些发现展示了扩展现实与人工智能如何通过支持更深入、更个性化的参与来丰富实体展览体验，同时不削弱文化遗产的具身价值。我们讨论了实际部署中的技术与社会约束，以及本受控实验环境的局限性。