Presentation about the ARCHIE and iDiscover projects (EFRD projects), conducted by the Expertise Centre for Digital Media (Hasselt University) and the Gallo-Roman Museum (Province of Limburg).

1. Universiteit Hasselt - Expertise Centrum voor Digitale Media
Provinciaal Gallo-Romeins Museum – Provincie Limburg

2. iDiscover
Mobile interactive museum guide
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. Mobile ICT to enhance the visitor
experience

4. Research projects
- 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 – 2010)

6. Case : ARCHIE project

7. ARCHIE museum game
Target group: youngsters,
during school visits
- Interested in multimedia,
games, hands-on activities,
experience and explore
- Social interaction

8. ARCHIE museum game
- stimulates interaction between youngsters
- encourages interaction with the museum
- tailors the presentation to the students’ needs

9. ARCHIE museum game
- stimulates interaction between youngsters
- encourages interaction with the museum
- tailors the presentation to the students’ needs

10. ARCHIE museum game
- stimulates interaction between youngsters
- encourages interaction with the museum
- tailors the presentation to the students’ needs

11. ARCHIE museum « game »
- Learn by playing
- Training skills, built-in learning curve
- Rich graphical design
- Relive specific episodes from local history

12. 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

13. 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

14. Evaluation and results
- Youngsters very enthusiastic about medium PDA
(more fun, cool, clear, modern, less boring, easy,…)
- After a one hour museum visit, they still want
‘more’
- They like in specific:
- Game actions (shooting their prey, dodge the
Romans, building the farm,…)
- Searching for objects in the museum
- Playing together, in small teams

15. Evaluation and results
- Handheld museum games as a way to increase
attractiveness of museum visits for youngsters
- Museum game launched (Fall 2010) as part of
the educational programme of the Gallo-
Roman Museum of Tongeren

16. iDiscover: expertise centre
- Share know-how and experience acquired
through ARCHIE and other projects
- Meet the need for independent advice
- Information regarding diverse, (inter)national
examples of mobile ICT applications
- Dealing with questions about design and
development of mobile applications in other
museums, and refer to other parties if necessary

17. iDiscover : services
Inform
Support
Experience

18. Services : support
- Information sessions
- Brainstorms, focusing on the start of an ICT
project
- Technical guidance
- Consultancy regarding budgets

19. Services : experience
- Experience demo’s in Gallo-Roman Museum,
Middelheim museum,…
- Experience various technological possibilities
of mobile ICT in demo- and testlab

20. contact
- Hasselt University - EDM : Jolien Schroyen
jolien.schroyen@uhasselt.be