pervasive augmented reality games to experience tourism destinations

ENTER 2014 Research Track Slide Number 1

Pervasive Augmented Reality Games to experience Tourism Destinations

María Teresa Linaza, Aitor Gutierrez and Ander García

Department of eTourism and Cultural HeritageVicomtech-IK4, Spain

http://www.ifitt.org/


Agenda

• Introduction

• Description of the game– Game mechanics

– Additional options

– Implementation of the game

• Validation

• Future work


Introduction• During recent years, there has been a growing technological

trend towards Pervasive Games, which bring more physical movement and interaction into the game world– Pervasive gaming can be considered a current hot topic, although

it is often used as a buzzword, meaning different things to different people

– Nowadays, Location-based tourism experiences and Pervasive Games, where the spatial movement of the player in the physical world is a key element, have increasingly become a research focus

– This has been possible due to the expansion of SmartPhones with Internet, GPS and other sensing capabilities, making mobile phone-based games easy to play and more interesting


Introduction• Furthermore, the development of Augmented Reality

(AR) technology allows the user to see the real world and perceive an additional virtual world superimposed on the same field of view in real-time– The user feels that the real and virtual objects coexist in the

same space– Until recently, AR applications required custom designed

equipment which made it unfeasible in terms of size and cost– The development of mobile devices, along with location and

visualization technologies, has made it possible to integrate all the components needed by AR applications on SmartPhones at a low price


Introduction• This research aims at implementing a

Pervasive Game for tourists during their visit to some of the most representative PoIs in the city of San Sebastian, Spain


Description of the game• The main goal of ExCORA is the development of

collaborative and multiuser Pervasive Augmented Reality games in open environments for tourism destinations– The creation of such experiences is based on the

combination of different basic elements– Each of these basic elements will represent a

specific activity (augmented game, insertion of virtual objects in patterns, collaborative augmented activity...) related to the corresponding PoIs


Game mechanics• Playing ExCORA only requires an iOS device

and the willingness of the player to move around in the physical playing area– Players should find their way to specific

locations or Points of Interest (PoIs)– In those places, they are rewarded with story

segments within which lie hints towards where to head next

– When players arrive to a PoI, they have to validate the visit to unlock the next PoI


Game mechanics• The game begins with a short introductory video followed by

a welcome screen to inform about the dynamics and objective of the game

• The display shows a map of the game field and the position of the player on the map, with the PoIs displayed either on a map-view, a list-view or an Augmented view

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Game mechanics• Once the player has clicked on a PoI, the game

provides descriptive content as well as the access to the validation of the PoI

• Each PoI is described by an image and a text, and optionally also by a video, audio, 3D object or panoramic image.

• There are two ways of validating each PoI in order to ensure that the player is physically next to it– Quick Response (QR) codes close to the PoI– Location of the player provided by the GPS sensor from

the SmartPhone


Game mechanics• Once the Once the PoI is validated, the game presents a mini-game

so that players can be rewarded– Multiple Choice– Puzzle– Augmented Reality– Augmented Multiple Choice– Question pool

– X


Game mechanics• When a mini-game is answered or completed

correctly, players are rewarded with points for completing that challenge

• Once the game is over, ExCORA will display the number of points for each player– Players can compare their points in a ranking with other

users– Each player gets a QR code to be rewarded with some

type of prize– Depending on the number of points, players can even

win physical prizes at the Tourism Office


Additional options• ExCORA has some additional options to

enhance the game– The game includes social communication

capabilities so players can access the score, visited PoIs and location of other players, as well as communicate among them using a chat

– Users can access an information section to configure the username and image used to represent them on the chat, and to gain information about their achievements during the game (points, validated PoIs, ...)


Implementation of the game• The game has been implemented following a

client/server architecture– The server is based on an Apache Web Server, while the

MySQL database and the logic have been developed using the Slim PHP microframework

– The client has been developed as a multilingual iOS 6 application optimized for iPhone 4 (or newer) devices, being also compatible with iPod and iPad devices.

• At this stage, the game has not been published at the Apple Store but has been installed directly on the validation devices (ad-hoc distribution)


Validation of the game• The background for the validation game is the

battle between the French and Anglo-Portuguese troops that occurred in San Sebastian from the 28th of June to the 8th of September 1813, exactly two hundred years ago

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Validation of the game

• A preliminary validation campaign has been conducted during April 2013 with six partners of the project in order to assess both the contents and the technical performance of the prototype

• Each player carries a SmartPhone or iPad with a built-in camera and GPS receiver, which provides the main requirements of the game implementation: positioning and ability to read visual tags


Validation of the game• The game starts outside the walls of the

fortress and finishes on the flag located on the top of the Urgull Mountain

• Players take the role of an English soldier trying to defeat the French army garrisoned on the fortress

• The generated experience has six PoIs and four treasures with different contents, validation methods and related mini-games


Validation of the game• Several aspects of the model have been analysed

during the preliminary validation campaign– Concentration on the Pervasive Game, as the player should

divide the attention among the in-game tasks and those in the surrounding environment outside the game

– Support for the skill development of the players, which should be able to start playing the game without reading a written manual

– Simple and intuitive interface of the game, allowing players to feel in control over their actions, clearly communicating the goals of the game and giving feedback about their actions, progress and score


Validation of the game• Testers propose some further

improvements – The rating of the PoIs and share comments

about them– The increase of the amount of narrated audio

content (to be heard while moving between PoIs)

– The access to extended contents related to some PoIs


Future work• Future work lines are opened both on the client

application and on the server– Regarding the client, next steps are focused on:

• Publication of the application on the Apple Store• Development of an Android version of the game• Personalization of the game experience according to the

profile of tourists (family, youngster, elderly...)– Future work on the server includes mainly the

development of tools to:• Generate new experiences• Exploit the information gathered on the server about users

(visited PoIs, tracks, times...)


Thanks for your attention!

Further questions????

http://www.ifitt.org/

pervasive augmented reality games to experience tourism destinations

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