Creating Location-Based Augmented Reality Games and Immersive Experiences for Touristic Destination Marketing and Education
The aim of this paper is to present an approach that utilizes several mixed reality technologies for touristic promotion and education. More specifically, mixed reality applications and games were created to promote the mountainous areas of Western Macedonia, Greece, and to educate visitors on vario...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-11-01
|
| Series: | Computers |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/12/11/227 |
| _version_ | 1797459661976240128 |
|---|---|
| author | Alexandros Kleftodimos Athanasios Evagelou Stefanos Gkoutzios Maria Matsiola Michalis Vrigkas Anastasia Yannacopoulou Amalia Triantafillidou Georgios Lappas |
| author_facet | Alexandros Kleftodimos Athanasios Evagelou Stefanos Gkoutzios Maria Matsiola Michalis Vrigkas Anastasia Yannacopoulou Amalia Triantafillidou Georgios Lappas |
| author_sort | Alexandros Kleftodimos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aim of this paper is to present an approach that utilizes several mixed reality technologies for touristic promotion and education. More specifically, mixed reality applications and games were created to promote the mountainous areas of Western Macedonia, Greece, and to educate visitors on various aspects of these destinations, such as their history and cultural heritage. Location-based augmented reality (AR) games were designed to guide the users to visit and explore the destinations, get informed, gather points and prizes by accomplishing specific tasks, and meet virtual characters that tell stories. Furthermore, an immersive lab was established to inform visitors about the region of interest through mixed reality content designed for entertainment and education. The lab visitors can experience content and games through virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) wearable devices. Likewise, 3D content can be viewed through special stereoscopic monitors. An evaluation of the lab experience was performed with a sample of 82 visitors who positively evaluated features of the immersive experience such as the level of satisfaction, immersion, educational usefulness, the intention to visit the mountainous destinations of Western Macedonia, intention to revisit the lab, and intention to recommend the experience to others. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:54:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4d0f7825c6c9403c9593cf2ca3667f74 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-431X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:54:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Computers |
| spelling | doaj.art-4d0f7825c6c9403c9593cf2ca3667f742023-11-24T14:36:29ZengMDPI AGComputers2073-431X2023-11-01121122710.3390/computers12110227Creating Location-Based Augmented Reality Games and Immersive Experiences for Touristic Destination Marketing and EducationAlexandros Kleftodimos0Athanasios Evagelou1Stefanos Gkoutzios2Maria Matsiola3Michalis Vrigkas4Anastasia Yannacopoulou5Amalia Triantafillidou6Georgios Lappas7Department of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia, 52100 Kastoria, GreeceDepartment of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia, 52100 Kastoria, GreeceDepartment of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia, 52100 Kastoria, GreeceDepartment of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia, 52100 Kastoria, GreeceDepartment of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia, 52100 Kastoria, GreeceDepartment of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia, 52100 Kastoria, GreeceDepartment of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia, 52100 Kastoria, GreeceDepartment of Communication and Digital Media, University of Western Macedonia, 52100 Kastoria, GreeceThe aim of this paper is to present an approach that utilizes several mixed reality technologies for touristic promotion and education. More specifically, mixed reality applications and games were created to promote the mountainous areas of Western Macedonia, Greece, and to educate visitors on various aspects of these destinations, such as their history and cultural heritage. Location-based augmented reality (AR) games were designed to guide the users to visit and explore the destinations, get informed, gather points and prizes by accomplishing specific tasks, and meet virtual characters that tell stories. Furthermore, an immersive lab was established to inform visitors about the region of interest through mixed reality content designed for entertainment and education. The lab visitors can experience content and games through virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) wearable devices. Likewise, 3D content can be viewed through special stereoscopic monitors. An evaluation of the lab experience was performed with a sample of 82 visitors who positively evaluated features of the immersive experience such as the level of satisfaction, immersion, educational usefulness, the intention to visit the mountainous destinations of Western Macedonia, intention to revisit the lab, and intention to recommend the experience to others.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/12/11/227augmented realityvirtual realitylocation-based augmented realitytourism marketingeducational tourism |
| spellingShingle | Alexandros Kleftodimos Athanasios Evagelou Stefanos Gkoutzios Maria Matsiola Michalis Vrigkas Anastasia Yannacopoulou Amalia Triantafillidou Georgios Lappas Creating Location-Based Augmented Reality Games and Immersive Experiences for Touristic Destination Marketing and Education Computers augmented reality virtual reality location-based augmented reality tourism marketing educational tourism |
| title | Creating Location-Based Augmented Reality Games and Immersive Experiences for Touristic Destination Marketing and Education |
| title_full | Creating Location-Based Augmented Reality Games and Immersive Experiences for Touristic Destination Marketing and Education |
| title_fullStr | Creating Location-Based Augmented Reality Games and Immersive Experiences for Touristic Destination Marketing and Education |
| title_full_unstemmed | Creating Location-Based Augmented Reality Games and Immersive Experiences for Touristic Destination Marketing and Education |
| title_short | Creating Location-Based Augmented Reality Games and Immersive Experiences for Touristic Destination Marketing and Education |
| title_sort | creating location based augmented reality games and immersive experiences for touristic destination marketing and education |
| topic | augmented reality virtual reality location-based augmented reality tourism marketing educational tourism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/12/11/227 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alexandroskleftodimos creatinglocationbasedaugmentedrealitygamesandimmersiveexperiencesfortouristicdestinationmarketingandeducation AT athanasiosevagelou creatinglocationbasedaugmentedrealitygamesandimmersiveexperiencesfortouristicdestinationmarketingandeducation AT stefanosgkoutzios creatinglocationbasedaugmentedrealitygamesandimmersiveexperiencesfortouristicdestinationmarketingandeducation AT mariamatsiola creatinglocationbasedaugmentedrealitygamesandimmersiveexperiencesfortouristicdestinationmarketingandeducation AT michalisvrigkas creatinglocationbasedaugmentedrealitygamesandimmersiveexperiencesfortouristicdestinationmarketingandeducation AT anastasiayannacopoulou creatinglocationbasedaugmentedrealitygamesandimmersiveexperiencesfortouristicdestinationmarketingandeducation AT amaliatriantafillidou creatinglocationbasedaugmentedrealitygamesandimmersiveexperiencesfortouristicdestinationmarketingandeducation AT georgioslappas creatinglocationbasedaugmentedrealitygamesandimmersiveexperiencesfortouristicdestinationmarketingandeducation |