As of late, the renewed interest in Handheld Augmented Reality (HAR) has seen a wave of gamified applications. Gamification is one approach that can help increase engagement of users by introducing traditional game elements as well as participatory elements. This study is primarily focused on studying the effects of gamification in cultural heritage.
The following questions guided our research:
1. How can gamification be used to engage museum visitors using HAR applications on mobile devices?
2. To what extend could there be an interest in a HAR application for museums?
To answer these questions, an handheld augmented reality application called 'AR Explorer' was designed. Two versions of the application, gamified and non-gamified, were used as the independent variable in a between-group control study, carried out on 30 participants. A replica of a museum object was used for the test, where 10 features had been implemented. We measured task completion for each of the participants as they used the application. Results from evaluations of the "AR Explore" application was indicative of significantly greater number of tasks completed in the gamified application, compared to the non-gamified. In regards to the interest in HAR applications, respondents of the questionnaire reported that there were very interested in using this or similar applications in museums.
