AR and Gamification in Museum Apps: Current Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

There have been numerous attempts to apply augmented reality (AR) and gamification in a museum context. Many of these have been as part of research projects, attempting to understand the potential benefits and issues of these approaches in a museum setting. Others have been rolled out as museums’ own projects for enhancing the visitor experience. Despite this rich history of attempts to utilise AR and gamification in museums, there are still many challenges and issues – and it is not uncommon for the apps and experiences in museums that apply AR and gamification to be relatively short-lived. As part of a larger research project guided by Design-Based Research (DBR) and Mixed Methods Research (MMR) to explore improved design recommendations for AR-based and gamified museum apps, we conducted surveys in both English and Chinese with young adult visitors and museum professionals to identify the current challenges and opportunities for such apps. We present the results of the survey with museum professionals, highlighting the four key challenges they identified in successfully adopting AR and gamification in museum apps. This further guides the focus of follow-up interviews currently being conducted with museum professionals, some initial feedback from this is also presented. Lastly, we conclude with a discussion on our next steps and procedures as we work towards developing professional guidelines for the design process and improved design recommendations for such apps.