The Robot Rallye in the museum - An Augmented Reality treasure hunt

client: Museum für Kommunikation Berlin

introduction

Join MR4 and Katzomat on their adventure in the museum collection!

Designed in collaboration with Michael Beyer, a Comic artist, this app takes you on an exciting tour around the permanent collection of the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin! MR4 and Katzomat need your help to reconstruct the password to a secret chamber… The Augmented Reality Experience is available at the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin from 11.04.2023.

Further Information

The Challenge

How can we design an augmented reality app for a prestigious museum that is simple enough for children to use? An experience that is fun, educational, and focuses children's attention on the exhibition?

An Augmented-Reality experience to playfully discover the museum exhibition

The Robot Rally in the museum is an educational app designed for children over the age of 8. The on-site experience alternates phases of wandering in the museum in search of missing robot letters, with animations in Augmented Reality, and small quizzes. The treasure hunt structure of the app turns the museum visit into a fun learning adventure game for the younger visitors.

Child in the exhibition, looking at augmented reality features through their device.

An eXciting app suitable for families and school groups

For the application to be suitable for a very young audience, it was important that the design be both friendly and simple. The number of interactions necessary was kept to a minimum, buttons were designed to be as distinctive and significant as possible, while the navigation structure was created to allow children to progress autonomously in the exhibition, following the clear instructions of Katzomat - the robot-cat. With the Robot Rally, children are free to choose independently what they want to discover next: this helps to avoid congestion at a single exhibit, but does so without changing the overall narrative experience.

Children in the exhibition, looking at augmented reality features through their device.

follow Katzomat and MR4 through the exibition in search of their lost robot letters!

In Robot Rally im Museum, children are invited to follow the story of MR4, and her cat Katzomat as they discover the museum in the manner of a treasure hunt. The two friendly characters, created by the comic artist Michael Beyer, are brought to life in exciting Augmented Reality animations during which, in the course of a story, the young visitor explore more about the exhibit.

Children in the exhibition, looking at augmented reality features through their device.

Keep the children’s attention for 40 minutes…

One of our biggest challenges was to keep children engaged with the AR experience and the exhibits. To do so, each exhibit comes with a set of playful or educational activities: be it charging “Katzomat”, answering quizzes or decoding a secret message!

Child in the exhibition, looking at augmented reality features through their device.

Learning from the primary explorers: children!

It is difficult to predict how the children’s creative minds will interact with an App like this. To overcome this challenge, it was crucial that we tested the App with them. Through different rounds of testing, we could better understand their behaviours, where confusion lay and better design an app that is fun, educational, engaging and easy to use.

An Augmented Reality Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Robot Rally

1

The AR experience starts with an introduction to the comic story and a mission for the kids

2

At the museum, there are a total of five AR stations (lost robot letters) that kids need to find. At each station, they will experience an interesting story about the exhibits.

3

Interactive AR Scenes enable a fun and informative learning experience

4

The AR experience incorporates quizes, such as deciphering a Morse code

5

Flying Katzomat tells the story of a posthorn in a fun and quirky way.

It was fun, can we do it again?

— CASPER, museum visitor, 10 years old
Sets of iPads Mini displaying the start of the Robot Rally game.

VISITOR EXPERIENCE DESIGN

We carefully considered the needs and daily visitor flow of the museum during the design process, creating a visitor experience that is sustainable and built to last for many years. With 23 iPad Minis available, families, school groups, and children can register online for the Robot Rally prior to their visit, adding an extra layer of excitement to their trip. The app features bespoke sound design and is in German with English subtitles, making it accessible to a wide range of children. Our goal was to create an unforgettable childhood memory at the museum, and we believe that the Robot Rally delivers on that promise.

Watch the Museum für Kommunikation team talking about the project in detail!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5KnowW37_g

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