Use of Augmented Reality Technology to Construct Narrative Gamified Museum Guide System

Augmented reality (AR) has recently become an integral technology in enhancing museum experiences and attracting younger visitors by using virtual elements to extend content. In this study, we employed AR technology to construct a narrative gamified museum guide app for the Exhibition on International Concern for Taiwanese Political Prisoners. The app links international aid cases that took place in different time periods using a linear narrative, thereby giving visitors an understanding of the historical stories through interactions in each background. After completing all of the missions, the visitors could leave their personal declarations through the app, which were then uploaded to a cloud and immediately projected onto a wall. This enabled the visitors’ comments to become part of the exhibition. The gamified guide app had three main functions: (1) linking together cases involving international aid in different time periods using a fictitious story, (2) triggering events using AR scanning, and (3) allowing visitors to leave declarations that became part of the exhibition. The results show that almost 70% of visitors used the app to guide them to different parts of the exhibition, participated in interactions with the exhibition, and were clear about the ideas that the exhibition wished to convey. This study provides a reference on how to turn the passive viewing of visitors into active interactions as well as how to translate and integrate visitor actions into an exhibition.