Anthropomorphized characters are popular in Japanese daily life and has potential to influence life and human behavior. Based on this opportunity and previous research, we designed an AR game featuring anthropomorphized companions that can be used in Basic Exhibition Room of Fukuoka City Science Museum for children aged 9–12 years old. Initial user research was conducted to understand the visitor’s experience and preference when visiting the venue.
The game’s objective is to assist the characters in reaching their goal by utilizing the application to connect with virtual companions in Basic Exhibition Room exhibits. Using a phone camera, the user can scan an exhibit’s sign, and then a character appears and provides conversational science explanations about the exhibit while sometimes giving a quiz. The game concludes after players obtain enough coins to unlock the final reward.
Preliminary user testing results showed that virtual companions designed with an anthropomorphic form in the science museum were perceived as cute, engaging, and giving an immersive experience.
Annisa Dhia Baswedan and Satoru Tokuhisa. 2024. The Adventure in Science Museum: AR Game Featuring Anthropomorphized Companion to Enhance Learning Experience in Science Museum. In Companion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY Companion ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 18–23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3665463.3678802
