An Interactive Application Framework for Natural Parks using

Serious Location-based Games with Augmented Reality

Liliana Santos

1 a

, Nuno Silva

, Rui Nóbrega

2,3 b

, Rubim Almeida

4 c

and António Coelho

1,3 d

Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

NOVA-LINCS, DI, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal

INESC TEC - The Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Porto, Portugal

Faculty of Science, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

Keywords: Augmented Reality, Serious Games, Location-based Games, Nature Parks, Interactive Applications, Mobile

Games.

Abstract: Park visitors and tourists, in general, seek new experiences, leading to a growing search for ways to create

more memorable experiences. Some technological solutions, such as Augmented Reality, have proved that

they can be useful to create more immersive and interactive experiences, both in entertainment and education.

An application with Augmented Reality, using location-based services in a gamified way, can create pleasant

and entertaining outdoor experiences without losing its pedagogical ability, making it a promising fit for a

nature park. We propose a conceptual framework for creating these mobile applications for nature parks. From

which, a mobile application was prototyped with location-based services and augmented reality interactive

experiences, with the purpose of disseminating scientific knowledge about the fauna and flora of a nature park.

Gaming elements are also introduced in the application’s design to try and improve the engagement and

involvement in the various activities of the application and its contents. User tests were performed during the

development of the prototype and with the final version. The results allow us to conclude that this type of

applications can improve the visitors’ experience while at the same time, improve the dissemination of

scientific knowledge.

1 INTRODUCTION

Interactive environments, such as mobile applications

and games, offer new ways of providing different

experiences in several areas, being tourism and

science communication some examples. Visitors, in

general, seek involvement in new experiences,

leading to a growing search for ways to innovate in

the way visitors experience the places they visit

(Pereira, 2016). Therefore, by taking advantage of

new technologies, interactive experiences can be

created as new ways to communicate science to the

visitors of, for instance, museums and nature parks.

One way to do it is through games. Their

versatility and potential to integrate pleasure, learning

and reflection (Gee, 2006) is known. Furthermore,

applying Augmented Reality (AR) elements, with

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6915-9795

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3620-7279

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4959-0147

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7949-2877

location-based systems, in a gamified way, provides

a bridge between the digital world and the physical

world, giving pedagogical content, while still

maintaining the epic experience a tourism visit should

have. Because of this, games can be an asset in the

creation of new experiences in natural environments,

helping to promote natural heritage through Science

Communication and environmental awareness

(Santos et al., 2016).

We propose a framework for the development of

an interactive mobile application for visitors of nature

parks. To test the proposed concepts, we developed

an application that interacts with the park

environment through AR and location-based systems.

Tests were conducted with potential users in loco to

evaluate the application and verify if it enhances the

visitor’s experience.

Santos, L., Silva, N., Nóbrega, R., Almeida, R. and Coelho, A.

An Interactive Application Framework for Natural Parks using Serious Location-based Games with Augmented Reality.

DOI: 10.5220/0008947602470254

In Proceedings of the 15th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (VISIGRAPP 2020) - Volume 1: GRAPP, pages

247-254

ISBN: 978-989-758-402-2; ISSN: 2184-4321

247

2 RELATED WORK

This section provides a brief overview on AR

applications and game design for engaging

experiences in Tourism and Education.

Brown and Chalmers (2003), point out that some

of the pleasure in tourism comes with the exploration

aspect of the experience. Therefore, maps and the

application’s guiding information should be enough

so the visitor will not feel lost and, also, not too

detailed, to encourage exploration.

AR is an excellent tool to introduce information

about the physical world, interactively and helpfully,

as can be seen in Skin & Bones (Marques and

Costello, 2015). This application has an AR mode

that allows the visitors of the Bone Hall at the

Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History,

to see the exhibition’s skeletons with a 3D

representation of the animal’s external anatomy and

highlights the particularities of functional anatomy.

The results from the user experience showed a

unanimously positive reaction. Some participants

stated that the (re)contextualization that the AR mode

provided helped to understand better and retain the

information (Marques and Costello, 2015).

Games have proved to be effective in motivating

and engaging people with media content. Serious

games are an effective and adaptative pedagogic tool

which motivates and engages the learner in the

educational context (Michael and Chen, 2006; Marsh,

2011). Hence, games can be an asset for science

communication in museums, parks or other cultural

touristic attractions, as they enable the creation of

pleasant experiences, while still maintaining other

priorities as its focus (Chess, 2014). These games can

even be enriched with the introduction of new

technologies such as location-based systems and AR.

Location-based games can be used as a way to

make the player navigate between different

landmarks, in an engaging way (Chess, 2014), which

is essential for tourism-oriented applications.

The use of AR in these games is increasing as

technology advances. The company Niantic is an

example of this evolution. In games such as Ingress

Prime, the famous Pokemon Go and Father.IO, there

are specific real locations where the player must go,

to get items or perform specific game-related tasks.

Sometimes, these locations are points of cultural

interest, historical landmarks and buildings of

importance to the region. The location-based services

are used to promote the exploration and interaction

with the regions around the player. Also, when these

location-based games that track and use the player’s

location in gameplay are combined with AR

elements, they create immersive and entertaining

games. Furthermore, AR offers effective and

attractive ways to educate with the possibility to

interact with the environment (Kysela and Štorková,

2015), while not retaining the user’s full attention.

These are all objectives to have when creating an

application to promote outdoor interaction.

Developing an engaging game is a crucial

challenge of game design (Söbke et al., 2017). Both

Schell (2008) and Kiili et al. (2012) profess the

importance of the state of “flow”, in which the player

is focused, interested, engaged and enjoying the

experience. Both authors state that to put a player into

a flow state, the activity in hand must have clear

goals, no distractions, direct feedback, and must be

continuously challenging. If the challenge is hard, the

player will feel frustrated if it is too easy, the player

will feel bored. Schell (2008) suggests that the

challenges should be attached to the progression to

combat those states of anxiety and boredom.

The best way to integrate gaming with teaching is

by having a balance between fun and learning

(Perrotta et al., 2013). The game design must relate

the educational content with the gameplay by making

the learning content integral to the game, rather than

an add-on, as content-specific tasks work better when

embedded in the fictional game context and

rules/mechanics. The authors recommend to not

separate non-contextualized game components, such

as badges, scores or leader boards, from the fictional

context and game mechanics. Lastly, Gunter and

Kenny (2006) bring attention to the importance of

focusing on context and educational goals. For these

authors, serious games require the design to support

“Cognitive Interactivity”, as this model allows the

game’s pedagogic aspect to succeed in its knowledge

dissemination objective.

3 INTERACTIVE NATURE PARK

APP FRAMEWORK

A visit to a park has a few challenges associated.

Visitors do not always have a good sense of

orientation and may often feel lost, even if the park

has signboards with directions. Some points of

environmental interest may go unnoticed because

they may not have information to explain why they

are essential, or which animals and plant inhabit

them. Other points of interest (POI) may have

information but still going unnoticed because of it not

being interactive.

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A park may not have enough information or hold

information that people do not feel like reading. Two

main challenges can be translated from this: how can

visitors know where they are at every instant in a park

and how can they have a better experience that is not

only fun but also informative.

A framework was developed to tackle these

challenges. It consists of a set of guidelines for mobile

apps to support and enrich the visit to a nature park.

According to this framework, a mobile app for parks

should contain the following items i: i(1) a map, i(2)

GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)

positioning, i(3) Points of Interest (POI), i(4)

interactive information and i(5) contextualized

serious games.

The park map i(1) should, in conjunction with the

GNSS positioning i(2), allow visitors to locate

themselves, showing them where to go. It should also

present some POI that are geolocated, so the visitor

can be informed of what will encounter on the way. If

the park already has a map illustration that is used in

signage, it is better to maintain the design to avoid

inconsistencies and confusion for visitors.

The app should also include information about the

POI i(3) available in the park and easily accessible for

the users. This information should be interactive i(4)

and about its biodiversity, acting as a support to the

visit, enriching it in a non-intrusive way. Thus, its

focus would mainly be in the real natural world

surrounding the visitors, while still maintaining a

pleasant and fun experience. To do this, the

application must have a way to interact with the park

environment. Location-based systems and AR allow

expanding that interaction.

Contextualized serious games i(5) are

recommended to promote a sense of exploration and

awareness about the park and to create engagement.

AR elements and location-based services can also be

included in these games. They provide ways to unlock

rewards, thus incorporating a sense of progression

within the application. Moreover, the app should

include a collection about the native species and

information about them, to further engage the visitor

in exploring the park’s biodiversity. This can be

accomplished by having individual activities

throughout the park circuit with a common goal,

which is achieved by unlocking and collecting digital

collectable virtual cards, that can be seen in a joint

collective board.

The final result must be an application easy to use

by the general public and supported by most

smartphone devices with a camera and GNSS

positioning. Following this framework, a functional

mobile application prototype was developed and is

presented in the next section.

4 IMPLEMENTATION

A functional mobile application prototype was

developed according to the framework guidelines

listed in the previous section. The application aims to

provide the visitors of nature parks, some information

about its biodiversity, enriching their visit in a non-

intrusive way. This prototype was developed

specifically for the biologic park (Parque Biológico)

of Gaia, Portugal, with an extensive area populated

with numerous species of animals and plants living in

a wild state. The park presents itself as having good

potential for the creation of a touristic and educational

location-based game.

4.1 Architecture

When starting the application, the first thing the user

sees is the map and the icons of the POI, providing

access to information about the activities and the park

in general. These activities are available in specific

locations within the park and can only be triggered

and initiated when the user is physically located on

those places. In each activity, the user can unlock and

collect virtual representations of the park’s species

and information about them, through playing these

activities. Those collectives can be seen in a joint

collection board. Given their importance, the

application’s flow was designed in a way the user can

access their information from any activity, as shown

in Figure 1.

This paper describes one of the activities

developed, Birds of Prey AR. Presently, the prototype

is supported by all Android devices, running at least

Android 4.4 (KitKat). The Unity 3D game engine was

used to provide support for distinct devices. AR

services were performed using Wikitude.

Figure 1: Application’s main flow.

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4.2 Map and Location-based System

The application starts with a stylized interactive map

of the park (see Figure 2). It highlights the park’s POI,

and it is the same map used in the park’s signs

scattered along its circuit. Thus, using the same image

avoids disconnecting the user from the park, and the

app would not be disruptive.

A blue icon represents the user’s location, making

the user always able to locate oneself on the map an

orange dashed line shows the path taken. This allows

the visitor to be aware of which portion of the park’s

circuit has already been visited. This will encourage

the user to return to the park to discover the POI not

visited yet. The POI are represented on the map by

small green circles with numbers or letters. By taping

these icons, an animated pop-up reveals what they

represent. The screen also has a help button and a

button for direct access to the Collectables.

The prototype uses the device’s GNSS

coordinates to calculate the user position in the

stylized map (Santos et al., 2017). Since it is an

illustration that is not at scale, it is not possible to

directly translate GNSS coordinates into map

coordinates. To accurately calculate the user position

in the map, real-life GNSS coordinates of

strategically chosen points in the park were recorded

to a JSON file that is loaded every time the

application starts. All map paths were mapped

through various points at close range, where each

point on the map was paired to a real coordinate. An

interpolation was made between the two nearest

points of the user’s GNSS position, to determine the

user’s position on the stylized map. The use of a

JSON file allows to easily manage and update these

points if, in the future, the park changes the circuit.

Furthermore, it becomes easy to replicate the

location-based system to different parks and circuits.

Figure 2: Park’s stylized map, the user’s path dashed line

and a blue icon with field of view representing his location.

4.3 “Collectables”

The Collectables is a collection of illustrations of

plants and animals with associated information. Each

of them represents a species that can be found in the

park. To unlock them, the user must first interact with

those species in the AR activities. The unlocked

species are represented in the collectables board with

their image and scientific name (Figure 3).

When the user interacts with one of those

unlocked species, it shows more information about it

(see Figure 4). The user can always access each of the

Collectables by interacting with the button

representing it on the map scene. From here, the user

has access to her/his collectable species and sees what

species (s)he already discovered and how many are

still yet to be discovered. The species not yet

discovered are shown as a question mark.

Figure 3: Collectables scene with three discovered species.

Figure 4: Salamandra salamandra species information.

4.4 “Birds of Prey AR”

The purpose of this mini-game is to engage the user

to spot “augmented” birds of prey flying above

her/him and correctly guess the species’ name based

on the birds’ silhouette. This information can be

accessed on the Collectables, after being unlocked.

In each game session, the player has 60 seconds

to find “augmented birds” and correctly name them to

accumulate the highest score possible. The score is

determined by the answers given, if correct or not, the

bird’s difficulty and its distance to the user. The game

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starts with a countdown, after which birds of prey will

randomly spawn and fly around. When the player sees

a bird must select it by tapping on the silhouette of

that bird. Three buttons show the possible answers

(see Figure 5). The player then selects the answer and

a “correct” green mark will pop-up if the answer is

correct, or a red cross if not. The score is also updated,

and the best score is always recorded, which,

according to Frattesi et al. (2011), encourages

replayability, for more engagement.

When a bird is selected for the first time, it will be

immediately unlocked and added to the collectables

board. The player then can access the Collectables

and view more information about the newly

discovered bird. Accessing the Collectables in the

middle of a game will pause the gameplay.

The game has an option to use “binoculars” that,

when activated, will zoom in the game (as real

binoculars), as can be observed in Figure 6. This in-

game feature makes it easier to observe the

differences between the birds’ silhouettes. However,

it becomes harder to follow the birds, as it will appear

as if they move relatively faster in the screen, due to

the narrower field of view. Green arrows indicators

(see Figure 6) are shown in the screen’s edge to guide

the player to point the camera to where the off-screen

birds are.

After 60 seconds of gameplay, the end game

screen appears with the score the player achieved and

the highest score. The player can then play again,

access the Collectables or exit the mini-game.

Figure 5: Birds of Prey AR with a selected bird.

Figure 6: Birds of Prey AR with the binoculars’ view and

green arrows indicators.

5 EVALUATION

The developed prototype was evaluated through user

studies. Some of these tests were performed during

the development activity to evaluate isolated parts of

the application so they could be improved. This

methodology uses the process of user-centred design,

as according to Abras et al. (2004), where products

can only be refined through feedback collected in an

interactive iterative process involving users.

5.1 Preliminary Studies

User studies were done during the development

activity, to evaluate the map design and the Birds of

Prey AR mini-game indicators, so both could be

improved. During the two tests, users experimented

these prototype features on a smartphone and, after

each part, answered a few questions from two

questionnaires. Some observations were recorded on

an observer form. A total of 34 volunteers

participated in both tests.

The application’s map test started with each

participant being asked to point out the nearest point

of interest, and then to rotate in that direction. The

observer took notes if the user succeeded or not and

helped the user in the case of failure. Finally, the user

was asked about the meaning of the orange dashed

line in the map, and the observer filled the answer in

the form. Hereafter, participants filled a questionnaire

about their experience. Ages were between 11 and 61

years old, (𝑥̅ = 34.97 ± 15.14), with 41.18% male

and 58.82% female subjects.

Table 1 shows the results from the questionnaire,

considering a 7-points Likert scale, ranging from

“Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”. The

observation shows that 94.12% of the participants

understood their orientation on the map and correctly

oriented themselves. Given that, there were no

changes in the icon representing the user location on

the map. Also, 82.35% of the users associated the

dashed line to the representation of the path taken by

the user. The remaining 17.65%, associated the

dashed line with the path to take. The users noticed at

least one of the activities icons on the map (82.35%),

and since they were visible enough to stand out, there

was no need to redesign them. These results

confirmed that the application’s map design is an easy

way for the users to locate and guide themselves

through the park, and so, no changes were introduced.

The Birds of Prey AR usability test was conducted

to evaluate the indicators designed to guide the player

to virtual birds of prey in this mini-game, as well as

the overall game experience. The indicators (green

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251

arrows) purpose is to guide the player to the birds’

location. They were created to reduce the player

frustration and feeling of being lost when the player

cannot find any birds. The users were asked to try two

different versions of the same game, one with

indicators and one without indicators. Each game

version started after a countdown reaching zero. It then

spawns the screen with birds of prey, being that the

total number of birds spawned at every instant is 5.

After spawning, these birds fly in circles around the

player while always maintaining their starting height

and distance.

In this preliminary test, the birds were scaled to

their real-life size on which 1 scene unit equals to 1

meter in real life. They spawned at random position

around the player at a minimum distance of 5 meters

and a maximum distance of 10 meters with their spawn

height ranging from 5 to 8 meters. There were five

species of birds in the spawn pool, their wingspans

ranging from 0.65 meters to 1.65 meters. When the

user tapped on a bird, it disappeared, and another

random bird would spawn.

The user had to touch the maximum number of

birds in less than 60 seconds, per game session. The

game’s version order was randomized for each user to

minimize the primacy and recency effect. During each

version, every user comment was noted by the

observer. The application also registered, for each

version, the number of birds touched by the user. The

test was done in an open area in the middle of the day

to try to replicate the park’s location where this activity

would take place. After, the participants filled a

questionnaire regarding demographics and their

opinion about the experience.

Table 1: Results from the application’s map test.

Question

Median

I use my smartphone very

often

I am comfortable with

navigation applications

3.25

It was easy to locate myself

on the map

5.25

Table 2: “Birds of Prey AR” indicators test results.

Questions

Median

The game controls worked as

expected

The game was fun

I liked the game visuals

Some of the questionnaire questions; used a

modified Likert scale in text form, as follows:

“Strongly Disagree”, “Disagree”, “No Opinion”,

“Agree” and “Strongly Agree”, being valued from 1 to

5, respectively. The results are shown in Table 2.

The very positive results show that users found the

game fun and liked its visuals. Most participants think

the game is suitable for a young audience, being that

more than half of the participants selected the age

groups of “Less than 18” and “18-35”. They tended

to select their age group and lower. In the optional

comment and suggestions section, two participants

wrote that the game needed to show more birds and

that a participant felt dizzy playing it because he had

to rotate himself a lot so he could see more birds.

Additionally, there were some comments about

participants in the age group of 35+ years old feeling

tired because they had their arms extended too high

while playing.

Results show that 88.24% (30 out of the 34) of

participants had a higher number of interactions with

the virtual birds when using the indicators as opposed

to not having the indicators.

There were instances where this difference was

bigger than 50%. After normalizing the gathered data,

the resulting information was that, when using the

indicators, the participants had a higher number of

interactions with birds, with an average increase of

21.82% ± 14.68%. This result led to the decision of

using indicators in the Birds of Prey AR, as it was

shown that the presence of indicators increases the

number of interactions the user has with the birds.

Nonetheless, considering all results, comments

and suggestions, some changes were introduced to the

Birds of Prey AR mini-game. The minimum number

of birds that are spawned at any given instance during

the game was increased to 20%. The spawn height

range was changed from 5 - 8 meters to 3.5 - 5.5

meters. The spawning algorithm was also changed

from randomly spawning behind the player’s field of

view, to spawning near the edges of the player’s field

of view. Also, the flying direction goes through the

player’s field of view. These changes make the birds

appear more often in front of the player, thus not

requiring him to turn around to see a bird. Moreover,

since they now appear at a lower height, the players

can have their arms in a more comfortable position.

5.2 Usability Test at the Park

A final test was designed to evaluate the application

usability in loco. It took place in the Biological Park

of Gaia, Portugal, with a sample of 27 participants,

who voluntarily walked over a specific path while

using the application to try the activities. Each test

had a duration of 20 minutes on average. Before

starting it, the application settings and progression

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would be cleared to ensure the most similar

experience between the participants.

The test started at the park’s entrance, where each

participant was given a smartphone with the

prototype already running. The participants were free

to explore the application and were shown the

Collectables, as seen in Figure 3. They were told that

some of them were already unlocked and that the rest

could be unlocked in the activities they would be

performing. While walking the path to the mini-game

Birds of Prey AR, it was explained what users could

expect from the game and its rules.

The mini-game Birds of Prey AR took place at an

open area, at the end of the established test path. After

playing it, the test would reach the end and the

participants would then fill a paper questionnaire. The

observer also noted any relevant comments and

suggestions pointed out by the participants.

The questionnaire had two parts, one with 16

questions about the users and their opinion about the

application and the other with 10 questions from the

System Usability Scale (SUS) (Sauro, 2011), to

measure the application usability. There was also an

optional comments and suggestions field, so the

participants could freely share their opinions.

The participants’ ages ranged from 14 to 79 years

old (𝑥̅ = 42.15 ± 16.31), being 55.56% male and

44.44% female, and most of them (77.78%, values 6

and 7 from Likert scale) use their smartphones very

often throughout the day.

The results show that 33% of users thought they

needed a tutorial to use the application. Two of them

wrote that the application should give a better signal

when the user is in the activity area, and another two

wrote that the Birds of Prey AR mini-game needed a

tutorial to teach the relationship between the birds’

silhouettes and their names, before starting the

gameplay.

The following questions (see Table 3) use the 7-

point Likert scale, ranging from “Strongly disagree”

(1) to “Strongly agree” (7). The positive results show

that having collectable species may entice

exploration. Also, the users thought the application

had an effective educational component, being in

alignment with the application goal, of disseminating

scientific knowledge.

The questionnaire’s second part used the System

Usability Scale (SUS) (Sauro, 2011). The average

score was 85.74. Besides being above average (68), it

is also above 80.3, meaning that, as said by Sauro

(2011), it ranks in the top 10% of the scores with an

A grade (ranking goes from A+ to F).

The final question was a comments and

suggestions optional field. The answers were grouped

as: 1) appreciation comments, 2) UI improvement

comments or 3) Birds of Prey AR tutorial comments.

Table 3: Results from the usability test at the park.

Questions

Median

The app worked as expected

The map was very useful

The map was easy to use

The dashed line helped me to

identify the path I took

5.5

The “Birds of Prey AR” game

leads to associate the birds’

silhouettes with its name

Using AR made the experience

more memorable

The notification on the

collectables’ icon draws

attention to interact with it

4.5

Having collectables makes me

want to try all activities

The species’ information was

interesting and educational

The app had an effective

educational component

I liked the app visuals

6.5

The 1) appreciation comments show the

participants liked the experience and the application,

with some of them, writing they would like to see it

being expanded with more activities and supported in

other operating systems. There were also multiple

instances of participants asking from where they

could install the application into their device. The 2)

UI improvement comments were mostly requests to

make more visible the map’s dashed line and the

activities’ notification. The 3) Birds of Prey AR

tutorial comments were made by multiple

participants, stating they felt the need for a tutorial

that would better introduce the birds before the

gameplay started.

Overall, the results showed that no significant

modifications are needed, confirming the positive

effects of the adjustments made after the preliminary

study. An example of this is the lack of comments

about tiredness or any discomfort while playing Birds

of Prey AR during this test.

6 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE

WORK

Mobile devices provide almost limitless opportunities

for developing creative and interactive solutions for

education, tourism and entertainment.

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The Biological Park of Gaia is a tourist location

that attempts to expose the region’s Natural and

Cultural Heritage to its visitors. However, the

available information should be more noticed by

them.

A mobile application prototype was developed to

be used while visiting the park and, to test the

guidelines of the proposed framework. Preliminary

studies allowed fixing detected issues and improve

the prototype. A final usability test, more

representative of the experience, was performed in

loco to evaluate the application.

The results were very positive, indicating that

location-based mobile applications that integrate AR

and gamification elements improved the visitors’

experience while at the same time disseminate

scientific knowledge. However, the small sample size

does not allow for this conclusion to be definitive. A

larger user sample and different contents are needed

to help to prove such claims.

For future work, some issues should be addressed,

such as the lack of information, before the Birds of

Prey AR gameplay starts, to help associate the birds

and their silhouettes. The dashed line could be thicker

to be more visible on the map. Adding sounds and

vibration when the user is near an activity location

could make the notifications more noticeable. The

ability to zoom in on the map or expand for other

languages other than Portuguese should also be

considered. Technically there are some issues with

new aspect ratios and the integration with other

libraries such as ARkit and ARCore. We will

continue to explore this topic of adding multimedia

apps for nature parks to enhance the visitor’s

experience.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by the FCT-Austin grant

Ref. PD/BD/142893/2018.

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