The document discusses using mobile games to enhance cultural heritage experiences. It describes two projects in Belgium - the ARCHIE museum game for the Gallo-Roman Museum, and the Park Explorer app for the Middelheimmuseum sculpture park. The ARCHIE game encouraged social interaction and exploration among young visitors. Both apps were well received by users and successful in motivating exploration. The document also outlines a do-it-yourself approach where students created mobile games based on local history for two city museums in Izegem. Evaluations found the games immersed students in content and made museum visits more engaging.

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)

4. Mobile ICT to enhance the visitor
experience

5. The success of games to engage
audiences

6. The success of games to engage
audiences

7. The success of games to engage
audiences

8. The success of games to engage
audiences

9. The success of games to engage
audiences

10. The success of games to engage
audiences

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,… ?

13. ARCHIE museum game

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)

25. Park Explorer Middelheimmuseum
- Lightweight
game: “art
radar”, hints
and wild cards
- Extra reward:
hidden places
in the park

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

30. Do-It-Yourself approach
“In het wiel van Odiel”

31. Do-It-Yourself approach
“In het wiel van Odiel”

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

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