=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2034/paper_4
|storemode=property
|title=Route of the Ελευθερία: a Design Exercise for Museum-Centric Entertainment Systems
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2034/paper_4.pdf
|volume=Vol-2034
|authors=Antonio Origlia,Maria Laura Chiacchio
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/aiia/OrigliaC17
}}
==Route of the Ελευθερία: a Design Exercise for Museum-Centric Entertainment Systems==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2034/paper_4.pdf
Route of the Ελευθερία: a Design Exercise for
Museum-centric Entertainment Systems
Antonio Origlia1,2 , Maria Laura Chiacchio1
1
LUxCID Lab, URBAN/ECO Research Center, University of Naples “Federico II”
2
Inst. of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems of CNR
antonio.origlia@unina.it, marialaura.chiacchio@gmail.com
Abstract. We present a design exercise based on a previously presented
theory to use digital games as part of museum experience. We show how,
starting from exhibit analysis, game elements can be designed to promote
museum contents and inform guiding systems about users interests and
knowledge about the contents. Visiting and summarisation technologies
can take advantage of this approach to maximise their impact on museum
visitors. The methodology exemplified here will support future work to
investigate on the field the basic elements described by the theory.
Keywords: Game design, museum promotion
1 Introduction
Interactive technology is generally considered to be a powerful cultural amplifier
[3]. Its design, however, requires careful planning as it does not simply support
learning processes but effectively alters the way these happen when compared
to traditional means [5]. Also, the use of different technologies can influence
specific characteristics of social learning. While interactive technology is indeed
a powerful support for learning, motivating people to access cultural contents
cannot be entirely delegated to the use of new electronic artefacts as the novelty
effect alone quickly decays, as it has been demonstrated, for example, for social
robots [4]. While being underestimated in the past, the use of games for cultural
transfer has received an increasingly amount of interest in recent times. While
the value of serious games for learning appears to be confirmed, the same cannot
be said about their endogenous value: outside the learning environment, a serious
game, being explicitly not designed to entertain, is less likely to be spontaneously
approached. Results presented in [6] show that a serious game may be perceived
as fun without being reported by the users as likely to be played in the free
time. In the case of cultural heritage, this is a relevant aspect as the final goal,
in supporting cultural heritage, is to stimulate people to spontaneously access it.
People who have discovered identity-related motivations actually decide to spend
their free time in the museum [2]. An emotional experience, built through the use
of playful games, has the potential to create motivation to visit museums through
narrative and game experiences that, if successful, become part of a players’
imagination. This work simulates the application of the theory presented in [7,8]
to design museum-centric entertainment systems (MES), advocating for a game
experience can be used to inform on-site intelligent systems about the visitor
interests and in-game experience. Our method has the important advantage of
integrating this possibility at design time.
2 Case study
In order to demonstrate the experience design process we are formalising, we
will show how the basic principles presented in our previous work were used to
obtain the pitch for a digital game to promote the Ma’agan Mikhael Ship exhibit
at the Hecht museum in Haifa. The presented example was produced during the
joint Italian-Israeli workshop on the Application of Novel Technology in Cultural
Heritage held at the University of Haifa in December 2016 1 . A MES experience
design can be entirely supported by existing tools for narrative development. This
is an important aspect as, other than offering specialised design tools, this kind of
software usually includes testing tools to help identify narrative inconsistencies
and test playability that can be used to verify the consistency of the designed
experience. To produce this example, we used Articy Draft 22 .
2.1 Exhibit analysis
To start designing the game for the Promoting phase, we first identify the main
theme of the game by selecting an exhibit to build the narrative around. In
the Hecht museum, the main attraction is the Ma’agan Mikhael Ship so we
concentrated on it. Known facts about the ship are selected among those that
highlight the most important aspects of the exhibit:
– The ship sunk a short time after its launch (perhaps in its maiden voyage);
– The construction method of the boat is Cypriot and maybe related to the
city of Dor (close to the sinking site;
– The ship is dated 5th century BC and is made of Aleppo pine. Only the
tenons and the false keel are made of oak;
– The cargo of the ship included mostly stones for chiseling but also boxes in
the shape of a heart, or leaf;
– Of particular interest was a set woodworking tools, as it testifies about the
ship’s construction methods;
– Other cargo seem to come from Cyprus but also from Greece: the chiseling
stones are from an area near Athens. Remnants of food appear to originate
from southern Turkey;
1
http://www.cri.haifa.ac.il/index.php/crievents/2016/443-the-application-of-novel-
technology-in-cultural-heritage
2
https://www.nevigo.com/en/articydraft/overview/
26
– The anchor is an important object as it testifies the use of one armed anchors
in the ship’s age. The anchor is made of oak and has an almost completely
corroded copper tooth;
– The food remains on the ship suggest that it sunk in summer;
– Relationship to Cyprus in the age of the Ionian rising may be used to create
context. Cyprus contributed the Persian fleet invading Greece with 150 ships.
Facts cannot be altered by the narrative. Blank spots, on the other hand
are useful to identify the missing pieces of information that can be filled by a
narrative. In our case, these were the ones we considered:
– It is not known why the ship sunk;
– It is unknown if the ship had a name: the corroded anchor tooth may repre-
sent an opportunity;
– The route followed by the ship is not known but its cargo may be used to
justify a hypothetical trip;
– Nothing is known about the ship’s crew.
2.2 The game
Starting from this brief historical research, the pitch for a digital game can be
produced. The general setup of the game was chosen to be seafaring on a re-
production of the ship. Being set in the age of Persian dominion over Cyprus,
the selected theme of the game was the rebellious stance of conquered Cypri-
ots during the Ionian risings. These led to the creation of independent reigns
that were quickly recaptured by the retaliating Persians. To describe the game
we define it in terms of gameplay, characters and narrative design. Concerning
gameplay, reusing known mechanics from other games helps people who are used
to playing games recognise the controls and get into the gaming experience more
quickly. In our case, we want to have a strong focus on characters psychology
and motivation to be able to depict rebellious Cypriots captivated by the Io-
nian risings. RPG mechanics like dialogue trees, inter-character dynamics and
branching stories are therefore a straightforward choice to create the context
and present it from different angles. The information collected while interacting
with the characters can be tracked to adapt the visit. To put the ship under
the spotlight, it is selected to be an explorable environment by itself and a safe
haven in which to develop the relationship among the characters. The safe haven
offers different chances to create emotional memories: it is usually inside it that
important exposition through character development takes place, as the rela-
tionship between the PC and the companion NPCs deepens. Violating the safe
haven is also a powerful strategy to create emotional memories: it is common to
have enemies attack and even destroy the safe haven by surprise after the player
has had time to associate it with a sense of peace and slowing down from the
more action-packed moments. In our case, we chose to use the Ma’agan Mikhael
ship as a safe haven to create a sense of attachment and affection towards it by
the player. To do this, we first assign it a name to indicate that it is no common
27
ship: given the chosen theme, we chose to name the ship Ελευθερία (Freedom).
We take advantage of the corroded copper tooth of the anchor to hypothesise
that the name was engraved onto it. To better define the ship, we make it a very
fast one that can outrun Persian vessels. Since it is known that the ship sunk
early in its life, the safe haven violation strategy can be used to create emotional
memories and to introduce a surprise: a ship as fast as the Ελευθερία appears
later in the game and, in the end, sinks it. This can also be used to expose an
important narrative step and develop one of the main characters.
On the side of characters, we design a conflict relationship between the Play-
ing Character (PC) and a main Non-Playing Character (NPC) to build the
driving force of the narrative. The NPC is named Ofer and he is used to convey
the Cypriot situation during the Ionian risings. Since the woodworking tools
found on the ship are an object of interest, we highlight them by assigning them
to Ofer and making them his tools. This helps build the character and gives the
chance to discuss the tools during dialogue, assigning them an emotional value
as a reflection of Ofer’s affection. Ofer motives are also the driver of the nar-
rative: his personal history is used to motivate most of the story advancement.
Ofer grows in coming to put other people lives before his hate for the Persians
to provide emotional feedback. He develops while revealing his backstory, which
is designed to be strictly linked to the historical events of the ship’s age and
to objects of interest for the exhibit. The character object representing Ofer is
shown in Figure 1. The PC is named Ami after the diver who found the ship in
order to have a fun fact and stimulate discussion during summarisation. He is
the young son of a merchant and desperately wants to command his own ship.
Ami’s desires clash with Ofer’s charisma as the crew members still consider him
as the leading person on board. Building and resolving this conflict represents
the main drive for emotional moments to emerge. A character detail we can use
to characterise Ami and deliver information relative to the ship’s material is to
have him like retsina wine: amphorae containing this particular kind of wine were
sealed with resin from Aleppo pines, the same used to build the ship, and have
a peculiar smell. As the Ελευθερία is meant to be a newly built ship, a reference
to the smell of its wood helps extend the sensory experience, build curiosity and
prepare the way for later discussion. The woodworking tools, linked to Ofer, are
located with him on the bridge of the Ελευθερία. Location objects are used to
describe areas and objects found in those areas. The safe haven, in our example,
contains the main characters and the woodworking tools, as shown in Figure 2.
Concerning narrative, while RPGs are characterised by branching stories and
quests, to keep this example simple we adopted a pearl string approach. The
events sequence is linear and branching is limited to the dialogue trees but this
can evolve in any narrative structure that support the concept of critical path: a
main plot on which the designer has more control and a series of smaller subplots
to create the illusion of freedom. The narrative designed for the Ma’agan Mikhael
ship is divided into the following chapters:
28
Fig. 1. Character objects are used to keep track of the role NPCs have in the game.
Their motivation, looks, statistics can be summarised through the available environ-
ments. In this case, The description of Ofer is linked to the woodworking tools object.
Fig. 2. Location objects represent objects locations. On the bridge of the Ελευθερία,
Ami and Ofer with his woodworking tools are found.
1. It is a hot summer in Dòr, when a brand new ship arrives, led by Ofer. Ami
convinces his father to appoint him as captain for a mission of bringing riches
to the rebel kingdom of Salamis, promising to obtain deals with Cyprus;
2. during the travel, Ami gets to know Ofer and his motives. He becomes jealous
of the crew’s loyalty to the carpenter;
3. upon arrival at Salamis, the kingdom is attacked by the retaliating Persians.
The Ελευθερία is forced to flee;
4. the Persians know about the mission of the Ελευθερία and start hunting for
ship. Ami and Ofer travel to Greece to avoid being captured and buy mer-
chandise to bring back to Dor, so they can disguise themselves as merchants;
5. in the city of Euboia, Ami and Ofer sell their precious cargo in order to
acquire goods that will help support another rising in Cyprus;
6. Ami wants to show to the crew that he can act as captain and imposes a
stop in Bodrum. There, Ofer is recognised by the Persian officer who forced
29
him to help building the Cypriot ships for the invasion. The Ελευθερία sails
away, confident its superior speed;
7. as they approach Dor, they are caught on by the Persian officer, who is
commanding one of the ships built by Ofer that survived the Greece invasion.
The ship is as fast as the Ελευθερία and its crew more experienced. The
Ελευθερία is sunk just before the coast of Ma’agan Michael. Before being
killed, Ofer saves Ami by throwing him offboard.
The narrative structure is meant to deliver information while leaving infor-
mation gaps on the background. Also, some informative content is covertly put
into the story to be revealed during visit and summarisation. Chapter 1, for
example, depicts the setting of a hot summer: this is historically motivated and
the reasoning behind it can be capitalised during summarisation. Chapter 2 and
all the situations in which Ami and Ofer can interact depict the Cypriot point of
view towards the Persian dominion. It also creates the conflict between the two
main characters that is intended to drive the rest of the story. Information gaps
are opened as the Ionian risings are quelled and references to the failed invasion
of Greece are mentioned during character development dialogues. Also, the his-
torical value of the ship’s cargo is not reported in the game although having the
player interact with the cargo is part of the story. The narrative is also meant to
justify the hypothetical route followed by the Ελευθερία during its voyage. The
route itself, being hypothesised on the basis of the ship’s cargo, can be used to
explain, during the visit, why it is important to study such remains. Through the
use of maps connected to the different chapters, the hypothetical route can help
players familiarise with the geographical setting and with seafaring problems in
the depicted age to connect geography to the narrative.
2.3 The website
Websites to advertise cultural heritage experiences tend to focus on the objects
found in the exhibits. Ironically, this is not an effective strategy to stimulate
commitment towards the visit. [2, p. 176] highlights that “[. . . ] many museums
build their websites around what they think it’s important rather than framing
the site around what the visitors might feel it’s important”. Past research demon-
strated that it is more likely that people choose to visit a museum because they
perceive it as a place to satisfy the identity-related need of social connection and
feeling of affiliation [1]. Designing a section of the website dedicated to the game
allows the designer to advertise the experience players will have with a museum
visit by showing objects of interest in the game context. Pictures of fictional
characters associated to such objects with real people involved the picture are a
powerful communicative instrument to symbolise the transition from the game
environment to the real setting of the museum. In our case, associating images
of Ofer near the glass protecting the woodworking tools or of Ami looking at the
remains of the ship would be possible strategies to deliver the intended message.
30
Fig. 3. Location objects can be used to represent real venues, too. Linking the visit to
data collected during gaming experience is possible through the use of pointers. Beacon
areas are represented with trigger volumes and connect to object descriptions.
2.4 The visit
When on site, echoes of the gaming experience are used to evoke context through
emotional memories. Location objects, in this phase, are used to describe the
exhibit and the events that are linked to the game. Figure 3 shows the room
in the Hecht museum where the Ma’agan Mikhael ship is found. From a design
point of view, the woodworking tools positioned in the Hecht museum are the
same ones presented during the story. Customised area trigger objects are used
to represent the area of activation for beacons connected with additional content
designed to support the human guide and enrich the visit. Woodworking tools
are also found in this particular location: as described earlier, the reference is to
the same object found on the bridge of the Ελευθερία to keep the design process
clear. As an example of additional contents to be presented in this setting, 3D
audio scenes can be played to describe the exhibit through the eyes of the game
characters, thus involving the voice actors recruited for the game to produce
the support material. This way, people who have played the game will recognise
the characters voices and evoke the game context through emotional memories
linked to them. People who did not play the game will simply listen to storytelling
content, as previously done in the literature. During the visit, information gaps
related to objects in the exhibit should be filled while the exhibit is presented.
Some occasions, cover the material of which the ship is built, which can be
emphasised by referencing to Ami liking the smell of Aleppo pine as it is close to
the one of retsina wine. Presentation of the woodworking tools can be supported
by referencing to Ofer’s abilities while describing their use. Description of the
cargo can be enriched by references to the route of the Ελευθερία.
31
2.5 Summarising
In the MES framework, the effort spent in stimulating discussion during the
summarisation phase is supported by the process of revealing the interpretative
key given by the designer to the exhibit. Producing behind the scenes documen-
tary material allows visitors to strengthen the memory of the visit by getting
an insight into the topic of the exhibit through the creative process that led to
the game development. It is also an important step to make sure that fictional
content is clearly separated from the historical one. Discussion among people
can be stimulated in this phase by revealing fun facts and easter eggs and by
describing the role objects of interest had in shaping the playful experience. In
our case, presenting the design and production process of the game could make
use of fun facts like the reason why the PC was named Ami and the game being
set during the summer to provide discussion hints that are easy to remember
and may stimulate word-of-mouth, which is one of the main, if not the primary,
way for a museum to attract more people [2].
3 Conclusions
We have presented a design example showing the application of a theory for
game design aiming at using games to promote and support museums visits.
We have shown how, starting from the analysis of exhibits of interest, gameplay
and narrative design can be designed to prepare users and to inform intelligent
systems supporting the visit and summarisation phases. This technique will be
paired with formal characterisations of museum visitors, on an affective basis,
to support the development of the methodology. The approach is supported by
existing tools for game narrative design extended to the entire visit experience.
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