Locative games
for cultural heritage

About
the project

LoGaCulture brings together the European academic leaders in digital locative experiences to explore how a new generation of innovative locative games might benefit European society through its cultural heritage sites.

Locative Games are in the process of entering the mainstream. Typically, they are applications or websites accessed on a location-aware smartphone with content and interactions that are triggered by locations. Thus, the experience is one of mixed reality, combining both elements of the digital and of the real place.

Currently, locative cultural heritage games and experiences take the form of digital tours, narrative games, locative literature, or interactive puzzles at cultural heritage sites, and enable visitors to see places ‘with new eyes’, revealing hidden aspects and creating new types of interaction. This has resulted in a great deal of experimentation. Unfortunately, design knowledge for locative games is spread thinly through a vast body of literature. In addition, the experimental nature of these systems means there is less focus on sustainable deployments, with many having a limited lifespan, highlighting a lack of understanding about how they could be deployed for the longer term in real cultural heritage locations, supported by existing heritage staff and structures.