Rationale

Upon entrance to Te Papa, the visitors will get issued a tablet with a pre-installed app that will be used throughout their journey to enhance their Te Papa’s experience. They will also have an option to get issued headphones to listen to the audio that plays throughout different sections of the app. The main feature of this app uses augmented reality and ibeacon to make way finding in a museum a more innovative and interactive experience. The app is not downloadable on outside devices making it exclusively unique to Te Papa.

My allocated persona was family so I wanted to cater to both parents and children allowing a child mode and a parent mode that will be the default. The photo feed uploaded by Te Papa’s visitors allows the family to easily pick and build their tour according to their interest saving valuable time. These photos are constantly updated every week to ensure visitors are able to keep up with the latest and most popular exhibits.

The augmented reality map forms a track that easily guides the user to their exhibit. There is also audio playing as it guides you, which is optional for the user if they use their headphones. There are also certain touch points throughout the exhibit that lets the visitors take photos with augmented reality creatures displayed in Te Papa. Animals that were once extinct will come to life through your camera and the audience will be able to hear the sounds they make and see movement.

On child mode, an I Spy narrative game encourages kids to look and engage with the displays for a longer amount of time. iBeacon is used here to sense these objects, making the screen glow either blue or red to indicate how far the object is. Kids will need to use this app to help guide them around the exhibition and will have to take a photo of the object once they have found it. Linking back to the photo feed, the family has the option to share these photos which are all saved in a gallery on the app.