Dinohunter: Game based learn experience in museums

In this paper, we describe a suspenseful experience and learning environment that aims the transmission of knowledge within a game-based and mixed reality application in the museums context. Individual learning processes are combined within communication processes and collaborative user experiences. Within the scenario of DinoHunter the users will be introduced into the scientific field of paleontology though various application fields are possible. The multiplayer game is applied to a museum and combines mobile components like PDAs or TabletPCs, stationary information kiosk systems, Desktop PCs and location technologies. DinoHunter is based on the ion2s - fact-based User Interface Design Methods for integrated Media Systems, especially "Kids Innovation" (ion2s) and on Interactive Storytelling technologies (ZGDV e.V.). Today, museums of natural history have to deal with their old-fashioned image and their task of transferring knowledge to their visitors. Their exhibits consist in most cases of fossil skeletons, teeth and other fossil fragments. The visitor has only the admission to view the fossils of former times, even touching the fragments is prohibited. Visitors have no possibility to recognize how much work and fantasy is needed to reconstruct a fossil animal and how much information is located in the fossil artefact. DinoHunter was created to overcome these constraints and to let the customer dive into the world of paleontology. Our goal was to create a collaborative multiplayer-game to entertain and support a group of people for a certain period of time during their museums visitation. Another focus is to support all usergroups (the museum, pupils, teachers, kids, groups. etc) not only during their visitation but also in the pre- and postprocesing phase. Elements of storytelling are applied to this edutainment scenario, intelligent user centred interface concepts and learning methods are combined within the integrated media systems which let the museum become a learning and evaluating environment. DinoHunter could be located in a museum of natural history or in a theme park related on this topic. Using storytelling means that the group will not fail because the participants will have a positive result anyway (opposite to computer games, they can't loose). Beyond this, the game-based story should be so unique, that you can play it only in the museum and not at home with your personal computer. Special attention was drawn on the implementation of proven technology from the "IZA - Tangible Information Kiosk" (ZGDV e.V.) and on the intelligent "momuna - mobile museum navigator" system (ion2s). At last the visitors should get a real result - a tangible souvenir - to take home from their individual trip in the world of dinosaurs