LIFE CODE. Escape Room Quest in the Darwin Museum

Immersive Darwin Museum Augmented Reality Application

Every museum is looking for new, effective approaches to attract visitors and immerse them in the museum. Teaching people is also a very significant priority for the modern museum. Here we will see how cognitive technologies help museums to attract and teach visitors.

The Life code project was inspired by ideas, introduced by a student with disabilities, Lena Khanova. Lena was a participant in the Microsoft philanthropy program, “Get your hands-on professional experience.” It became the base for the proposal to Microsoft’s AI for Good programme. Our team entered the programme and has developed the project in 9 months.

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To attract and immerse visitors we developed a cool story about the future, robots, AI, and DNA research. All these aspects are now included in the Darwin museum. The story is based on the global tasks of humanity, in which the visitor can participate in the museum location. Based on the story, the whole visitor journey map was prototyped in detail. Every meter of the museum was qualified from the visitor’s point of view.

A quest without puzzles is not a quest! Dozens of mini-games were developed in connection with museum exhibits. So, every visitor found something amazing for himself. To attract audience interest, twenty-six different animals were created in a 3D digital style. As a result, every visitor now can find in AR his favourite animal in the museum exhibition.

Vsevolod Kuznetsov is the famous voice-over actor used for the application, known as the official Russian voice of Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas. He makes AI characters unique and lively. English voice was created using Microsoft text-to-speech and translation services.

As a result of the project, the museum has very happy visitors of all ages. Most of them found new facts about exhibits and recommended their friends and relatives to visit the museum. About twenty thousand people installed the app during the first week after the publication. The game received a ninety-two per cent rating at the educational app store portal and excited press reviews around the world.

Parents can set their child off and running with the application with very little support from the outset. Parents will be reassured to know that the application is child-friendly and at no point can the child access any unwanted in-app purchases, inappropriate content or in-depth menu systems. Parents will be delighted to know that this application focuses on education and provides the child with a focus for each activity with some wonderful unique features. In addition, teachers can let their students use the interface with hardly providing any support. Teachers could use this application when taking a group of students to the museum.

Visitor reactions

Visitors like the app: “The project turned out to be very successful, it captivates not only children but adults as well! The graphics are great, the voice is just like a robot talking to you, and the tasks are interesting… Michael loved the animation with the kangaroo and glyptodon, and also the reference to his beloved Minecraft. My husband after 5 minutes after the start could not stand it and installed the application, so that he too can pass himself :). Now I want to continue.”

Educationalappstore wrote: The LIFE CODE application is a stunning piece of design. Not only does it encourage children to discover within the Darwin museum, but it also adds educational value in a fun and challenging manner. The backstory, graphics, animations and sounds are engaging and would appeal to the chosen target market and beyond. The LIFE CODE application is by far one of the best Augmented Reality apps that we have seen to support an educational visit or discover this wonderful museum from the comfort of your own home. The app won the Tagline award in the category “The best game”. It became the first museum app which was so successful In this competition. Educationalappstore certified app with 92% for use by parents and teachers for educating children.