iDiscover - The Use of Games to Enhance Cultural Heritage Experiences
1. Universiteit Hasselt - Expertise Centrum voor Digitale Media
Provinciaal Gallo-Romeins Museum – Provincie Limburg
2. iDiscover
The Use of Games to Enhance Cultural
Heritage Experiences
Jolien Schroyen
Hasselt University - - Expertise Centrum voor Digitale
Universiteit Hasselt Expertise Centre for Digital MediaMedia
Gallo-Roman Museum – Province of Limburg
Provinciaal Gallo-Romeins Museum – Provincie Limburg
3. iDiscover - background
- EFRD projects:
- ARCHIE: enhance vistor experience through
mobile ICT (2005 – 2008)
- RITCHIE: expertise centre and demolab
iDiscover for (mobile) ICT in culture and
heritage (2008 – 2012)
11. iDiscover framework
Conceptual framework to situate the desired
cultural heritage experience. Which technologies
are needed to suit a specific target audience,
(museum) environment, context of use,… ?
14. ARCHIE museum game
Target group: youngsters,
during school visits
- Interested in multimedia,
games, hands-on activities,
experience and explore
- Social interaction
15. ARCHIE museum game
- stimulates interaction between youngsters
- encourages interaction with the museum
- tailors the presentation to the students’ needs
16. ARCHIE museum game
- stimulates interaction between youngsters
- encourages interaction with the museum
- tailors the presentation to the students’ needs
17. ARCHIE museum game
- stimulates interaction between youngsters
- encourages interaction with the museum
- tailors the presentation to the students’ needs
18. ARCHIE museum « game »
- Learn by playing
- Training skills, built-in learning curve
- Rich graphical design
- Relive specific episodes from local history
19. Evaluation and results
- Extensive user tests, in various phases of the
design process
- Observations, logging of user interactions,
questionnaires
- Evaluation of :
- Usability and playability
- Training of social skills (social interaction)
- Training of cognitive skills (interaction with
museum environment, interpretation and
observation, …)
- Learning key messages
20. Evaluation and results
- Museum game does stimulate social
interaction and exploration
- Humour as a trigger!
- Mix of free exploration and (very) focused
searching for answers in the museum
- Museum game is able to support the learning
of key messages
- Unaware of their learning
- In search for a stimulating challenge for every
target group
21. Evaluation and results
- Youngsters very enthusiastic about medium (more
fun, cool, clear, modern, less boring, easy,…)
- After a one hour museum visit, they still want
‘more’
- They like in specific:
- Game actions
- Searching for objects in the museum
- Playing together, in small teams
Handheld museum games as a way to increase
attractiveness of museum visits for youngsters
22. Evaluation and results
- Completely deployed and operational (Fall
2010) as part of the educational programme of
the Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren
- One of the most advanced mobile guides that
is currently in use in a real life situation
- Advanced, yet very fragile technology
23. Evaluation and results
- Deployment phase often neglected in R&D
- Pre-deployment evaluations with ~1000 test
users
- Intensive real life usage, by school groups and
families during school holidays
(100 families in 1 week)
24. Park Explorer Middelheimmuseum
Target group: youngsters (14-26)
- Open air sculpture museum
for modern and contemporary
art
- iPhone + GPS
- Stimulate visitors to explore
the park + unlock “remixes”
made by youngsters
(as part of the Sculpturized!-project
< Piazza dell’ Arte)
26. Evaluation and results
Feedback user testing
- Previously hard-to-find
artworks: more accessible
- Game element is fun
- Extra content is
appreciated
- Visitors love the incentive
to explore
- Only iPhone ?
(available in App Store iTunes)
27. Do-It-Yourself approach
“In het wiel van Odiel”
- Target group: school groups (focus on
technical and vocational education)
- Two small city museums:
- National Museum of Cycling
- City Museums of Izegem (industrial history)
- Develop an engaging educational programme
- Odiel Defraeye as a key figure to explore local
history in the first half of the 20th century
28. Do-It-Yourself approach
“In het wiel van Odiel”
- Web-based authoring tool
- Students create their own mobile game
- Resulting games can be played by fellow
students on a smartphone in the museum
33. Evaluation and results
- Project launched
March 2012
(inhetwielvanodiel.be)
- “Light” version for
regular museum
visitors: play mobile
game in the museum
(content made by
heritage organisation
TERF)
34. Evaluation and results
- Students show commitment to create fun,
meaningful games
- Students immersed in museum content,
storyline Odiel Defraeye
- Unlocking content in museum by means of
searching and scanning QR-codes is fun
- Difficulty in matching content to the physical
museum environment