The Gallery Game: Locative Augmented Reality for Cultural Engagement Using Multisensory Design

Provoked by numerous art-less walks during the pandemic, our Open Air Gallery AR project, is a smartphone-based locative media platform to display digital galleries and music albums with gamified engagement. This short work-in-progress paper presents one such "gallery game," a new type of interactive multimedia for virtual exhibition in nature or a park. Geri Hahn Art: Living Out Loud AR (2024) features the art of an artist-synesthete who uses synesthesia as her creative inspiration. The app includes music by Svetlana Rudenko (Piano, Logic Pro) and Mads Haahr (Synths), composed to transfer the art expression into music language using a unique multisensory design approach where art is translated into music, and location is chosen co-create the experience. Recorded talks with the artist give insights into her life in art, her inspiration and craft of expression. The gallery game genre allows access for a wide audience without the limitations of a physical exhibition venue (e.g., availability, costs for rent). Our preliminary results show a high level of interest in the genre as well as promising social benefits of cooperative play.