Augmented Reality for History and Culture
We have a long track record in location-based augmented reality for engagement with history and culture. Our first project entitled Viking Ghost Hunt began in 2008 and ran on the very first Android phone, the G1. It is documented in some our academic papers, e.g., Design and evaluation of player experience of a location-based mobile game.
Serious Games for History, Literature, and Cultural Practices
Kampen om Maden
Museet Mosede Fort Danmark 1914-18 is a World War 1 museum based in Greve, Denmark, situated on the coast south of Copenhagen and centered around a historical WW1 fort. Rather than a typical war museum, the museum tells a complex story about how national policy decisions, especially around the scarcity of food, during the First World War led to the development of ideas and thinking that became the foundation of the Danish welfare society and are still relevant today – perhaps more than ever.
Supported by the Velux Foundation, Haunted Planet Studios and Museet Mosede Fort Danmark 1914-18 have collaborated to develop a sophisticated site-specific augmented-reality game situated in a historical fort. Entitled Kampen om maden 1914-1918 (loosely translated, “the struggle for food 1914-1918”), the game has multiple objectives:
to engage the general public with an attractive and thought-provoking experience
to engage and encourage reflection around how ideas regarding food and nutrition that were developed during WW1 are still relevant today
to be based on the latest research into national policy and other cultural forces during WW1 in Denmark
The game experience is structured around nine double encounters. Of each double encounter, the first brings to the fore a particular problem related to food shortage and malnutrition that arose in Denmark, which was neutral in the war. The second part of the double encounter is a “companion encounter” that relates to the same theme but shows how new solutions to the food-related problems grew out of the war and formed new ways of organising Danish society.
The encounter visuals – the apparitions – are taken from historical photos from the time of the war and hence appear in black and white. To enhance the experience of engaging with apparitions from the past, the Ghostviewer (AR camera mode) is also in black and white. In this way, the game encourages the player to see the present in the light of the past and vice versa. Every apparition is accompanied by an intentionally surprising heading and a short text, which evokes the theme that the apparition symbolises.
Bram Stoker’s Vampires
Vampires from Bram Stoker's famous novel "Dracula" have appeared nearby. Why are they here? Do you dare to find them? Play in Trinity College or anywhere in the world (using "Random" mode).
Bram Stoker's Vampires is an outdoors game that turns your smartphone into a spooky paranormal detection device. First use the Radar to scan for mysterious phenomena and get close to one, then scan for it using the Viewer and take its photo. Find all the paranormal activity to complete the game.
Be prepared for surprises! The audio is great and works best with headphones, but you can play without headphones too. Works best in an open area, like a forest or a park - or in Trinity College Dublin!
The context for this game is that the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, was a student in Trinity College Dublin from 1864 to 1870. Casting the player as a vampire hunter (very much like Professor Van Helsing and the other protagonists in Stoker’s novel), their task is to find and document the existence of the vampires. In the game’s staged mode, the exploration happens in the very grounds that the famous write frequented in some of his formative years.
We gave considerable thought to the ways in which Gothic storytelling tropes, such as structural fragmentation and pretension to veracity, could be reinvented for use in the context of location-based augmented reality. The video explains this in further detail.
The Amazing Transfabulator
Save dispossessed time travellers! Due to the untimely malfunction of Professor Hürkelheimer’s Amazing Temporal Phase Transfabulator, a motley crew of Victorian explorers are stuck in our world. Find and photograph all seven explorers using the mysterious transdimensional camera to bring them safely back to the Transfabulator. While visiting you will discover that each of the Transfabulator's passengers has a secret - capture them and learn what they're trying to hide.
Prof. Hürkelheimer’s Amazing Temporal Phase Transfabulator was developed in collaboration with The League of Victorian Imagineers, a steampunk community in Oamaru, New Zealand. Oamaru has a beautiful, historical Victorian quarter, and a sizable number of the population in Oamaru engage with their Victorian heritage through the practice of steampunk as a fun, creative activity that involves fantastic dress balls, creative visual arts and literature.
The League of Victorian Imagineers produced graphics and sound for the game experience, which is staged in their beautiful Victorian quarter.
Pirates of Emerson
Arr ye landlubbers! A ghastly bunch of ghostly pirates have landed their doomed ghost ship nearby - in search of hidden treasure! Do you dare encounter the seven dread Pirates of Emerson and find the loot? Play in Alameda County Fairgrounds or anywhere in the world (using "Random" mode).
The Pirates of Emerson Ghost Hunt is an outdoors game that turns your smartphone into a spooky paranormal detection device. First use the Radar to scan for mysterious phenomena and get close to one, then scan for it using the Viewer and take its photo. Find all the paranormal activity to complete the game. Be prepared for surprises! The audio is great and works best with headphones, but you can play without headphones too. Works best played in an open area, like a forest or a park - or in Alameda County Fairgrounds!
The game was developed in collaboration with the Pirates of Emerson Haunted Theme Park in Pleasanton, California. The Pirates supplied photos and sound effects for the experience, which is staged in the Alameda County fairgrounds.
Carolan’s Last Tune
Hear ye, hear ye! The ghost of Carolan, a famous Irish harper, needs your help. His most haunting tune has been stolen by four ancient and malevolent ghosts. Do you dare hunt them down and find the missing melody? Play in Galway City or anywhere in the world (using "Random" mode).
Carolan's Last Tune is an outdoors game that turns your smartphone into a spooky paranormal detection device. First use the Radar to scan for mysterious phenomena and get close to one, then scan for it using the Viewer and take its photo. Find all the paranormal activity to complete the game. Be prepared for surprises! The audio is great and works best with headphones, but you can play without headphones too. Play in an open area, like a forest or a park - or in Galway, Ireland!
This game was developed by Máiréad Ní Chróinín using our platform. Máiréad and her team researched the story of Carolan and produced all assets, including visuals, sound and locations in Galway city centre.