In this project, the solution aims at seamlessly blending Melbourne's rich architectural history with AR technology by creating a geo-location app tailored to the urban landscape of Melbourne.
Targeting young locals and tourists, we seek to provide an innovative and engaging way to explore the city architectures and promote its long-lasting cultural heritage.
The ARC aims to craft an immersive experience that not only educates but also entertains by unlocking the stories behind Melbourne’s iconic structures.
Cultural heritage (CH) has been one of the many fields where technology has been increasingly used to improve the visitor's experience. An outstanding method is using augmented reality (AR) to engage their visitors in exploring their spaces, and aiming to provide informative experiences, due to its ability to provide virtual experiences while also being aware of the surrounding reality. (Marto et.al. 2019).
But the problem with this mean of delivery is typical users are non-experienced and non-trained people. (Marto et.al. 2019). Besides, usability issues that may occur during end-users’ experiences is related to the tracking, since it is required to explore the surroundings slowly in order to keep the position of the virtual elements accurate to the real scene (Marto et.al. 2019).
How might we make AR tourism experience more accessible to visitors who lacks knowledge or training or ability to completely perceive the cultural value and history of the artefacts?
From the research, I found that one possible response to consumer’s lack in knowledge or training is to offer gamification into their experience (Jung & Dieck 2017). The app can resemble the jiggle puzzle game, users will have to collect all the pieces to win the game. At each location, their challenge is to find the “arc” that matches the given pictures/outlines.
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I went through the process of wireframing and prototyping, with accessibility at core of the design process, the app is prototype with a view to deliver various options for users to experience the architectural beauty of Melbourne.
Two rounds of testing were conducted
After two rounds of feedback and refinement, the application was adjusted to enhance accessibility, error prevention, users' freedom of control and seamless experience.
Users are given characters to choose from when they first log in. They can come back to the trip by putting in their password or enter a code to join their friends' trip
With each location finished, users are rewarded with a puzzle piece, which is a part of a big puzzle. Once solved, users will find out the final destination of their trip
The geo-location element allows the app to generate pops up and nudges based on users' current location, from which assisting them in navigating to and around the location
From their camera, users can click on hotspot and view information of the unique location. Users have to match the given puzzle in each location with the real environment to complete the challenge.
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
alyssanguyen0728@gmail.com