Perrugia: A First-Person Strategy Game Studying Movement Patterns in Museums

• Published in: HCI in Games: Serious and Immersive Games Vol. 12790; pp. 345 - 354
• Main Author: Limsui, Christian Y.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2021; Springer International Publishing
• Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Subjects: Game and flow; Game immersion; Museum visitorship; Spatial syntax analysis
• ISBN: 3030774139; 9783030774134
• ISSN: 0302-9743; 1611-3349
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-77414-1_25

This paper shows the creation of a game focused on studying museum visitor path movements. Using existing museumgoer path data collected and floor plans from the Ateneo Art Gallery (AAG), the Philippines’ first museum of modern art, a game was created to best observe the way visitors interpret exhibition space based on the concepts of spatial syntax analysis. The steps involved cleaning the existing data to study points of interest in which visitors acted accordingly as well as representing popular and deviated pathways in the game. Design choices also included providing the player with maps and tools to track other NPCs as they explored the museum spaces but only to the point where it provided enough information for them to piece together the rest of the information. In terms of gameplay, the player is expected to look at the artworks and NPCs in order to progress in-game. The study presents a method of employing technology for museums to better understand their visitors, different from the current implementations used for exhibit interaction. The game allows museum professionals to discover the best configuration of artworks and exhibition space without needing to use the physical resources. It also presents a possible tool in learning spatial and social factors affecting the visitor’s experience when entering their spaces, providing valuable insights for those in the field.