Here are three projects from the Thought Den back-catalogue that have presented art, culture and heritage archives in new and exciting ways. Magic Tate Ball is a mobile app that choose you an artwork relating to your immediate surroundings. Zoom is a gesture-based installation where children access hidden content by striking animal poses. Survival is an HTML5 mobile game for iOS and Android that raises awareness of animal conservation by challenging young people to unlock a series of beautiful images.

1. @thoughtben
Ben Templeton
ben@thoughtden.co.uk
Unlock the Archive!
(or How Can Archives,
and This Presentation Title,
Be More Interesting?)

2. Playful learning
“Survival” “Magic Tate Ball” “Zoom”

3. Families & Kids
Raise awareness of
Arkive’s archive
Mobile game

4. @thoughtben
1
Like LOLcats, but with endangered animals
Create & share!
HTML5 + JS
“LOLarkz”

5. “Guess Zoo?”
@thoughtben
Like Guess Who, but
with endangered animals
Single / Multi player
2

6. @thoughtben
Like BopIt! but with
endangered animals
Pass it round the table!
Unlockable content
HTML5 + JS
3
“Quizimal”

9. 35,000 so far
iOS & Android
15,000 downloads
within 2 weeks

10. @thoughtben
Unlockable content...

11. @thoughtben
Unlockable content...

12. @thoughtben
Get your content ducks lined up
HTML5 + JS: Wolf in sheep’s clothing
Client + agency promo together
Simplicity is hidden beyond the
brambles of complexity
(test, test, test)

13. Casual Audience
Playful Experience
Outside the Gallery

14. @thoughtben
1

15. @thoughtben
2

16. @thoughtben
3

17. @thoughtben
4

18. v
“Magic Tate Ball”
http://tdn.lv/MTB-vid

19. 2,500
artwork
‘tags’

20. @thoughtben
Find the stories...

21. Design refinements

22. Design refinements

23. Design refinements

26. @thoughtben
Launch Seeding Traditional PR Social Media

27. @thoughtben
Launch Nokia takes the lead
iOS
2,226
Nokia
15,215

28. Launch FEATURED BY APPLE!!!

29. @thoughtben
Launch iOS catches up
110,000 so far
iOS
65,000
Nokia
55,000

31. @thoughtben
Content is key: find the stories
Launch: longer than you’d think
Working relationship needs trust &
communication
Updates: good (don’t throw the baby
out with the bathwater)

32. Bring
archive to life
Innovate &
Engage
Bristol
Zoo
Gardens

33. “Wouldn’t it be cool if...”
You could strike
a pose to unlock
an animal!?

34. “Wouldn’t it be cool if...”
There were some funky characters?

35. The pains of new tech...

37. @thoughtben
People don’t do what you expect them to

38. Getting physical leads to learning

39. Short & sweet saves the day

40. @thoughtben
“Wouldn’t it be cool if...”
New tech is hard but rewarding
Nobody does what you expect
(test, test, test)
Get physical (cognitive dissonance)
Keep it short -> more on request
Wordpress is a quick & easy CMS

41. Old-school games
School ground games
Family games
Board games
Physical games
Card games
Playful
learning

42. @thoughtben
People play what they know
And ‘play’ builds confidence

43. @thoughtben
Ben Templeton
ben@thoughtden.co.uk
Thank you!

44. @thoughtben
Links
“Magic Tate Ball” press page - http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/magictateball
“Magic Tate Ball” Guardian Culture Pros - http://tdn.lv/MTBguardian
“Zoom” overview - http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/zoom
“Survival” download - http://tdn.lv/playsurvival / http://bit.ly/survivalandroid
“Survival” press page - http://tdn.lv/s7uzJJ
Further Thought Den work - http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/portfolio
Thought Den discussion / analysis - http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/blog