Learning to Build a Doric Temple: The Augmentation of Knowledge Through AR Gamification

This chapter proposes a digital learning instrument for ancient architecture and history, taking as the object of learning a Doric temple from the ancient city of Callatis, an early Greek colony on the Black Sea. An augmentation of the in situ reality and knowledge through AR and gamification is proposed in the form of a mobile application named DORIC, representing a puzzle game. The puzzle’s goal is the completion of a 3D reconstruction of a Doric temple. This is achieved by scanning the archaeological fragments of an ancient Doric temple, and by visualizing in AR the different stages of this reconstruction augmented with documentary videos. Several gamification elements are provided within the game with the purpose of stimulating the users’ interest and motivation and rewarding their partial and final effort to complete the puzzle. The chapter elaborates on the research context related to AR, serious games and gamification in education and archaeology, and further details on how the DORIC application was creatively designed to maximize the visual and, hence, the educational outcomes, and, finally, discusses and summarizes these outcomes, highlighting the authors’ contribution and novelty.