Bringing the Sea Back to Life: An Augmented Reality Voyage in a Maritime Heritage Museum

Maritime heritage museums play a crucial role in preserving maritime history and heritage. However, similar to other museums, their collections are primarily showcased with literal statements due to limited space, which restricts the display of diverse cultural relics. Additionally, visitor interaction tends to be one-dimensional, lacking novelty and sensory engagement, potentially resulting in higher cognitive load and reduced attention, thus diminishing the overall visiting experience. Consequently, like any museum, they persistently explore new strategies to draw in visitors. Augmented Reality (AR) technology presents opportunities for competitive advantage, introducing visitors to an alternative interaction mode that stimulates curiosity and engagement. The presented work is a work in progress, aiming to delve into the expected educational advantages and models for enhancing user experiences by integrating AR navigation and gamification into museum settings, focusing on indoor exhibitions. This seeks to attract new visitors while fostering immersive, engaging experiences and facilitating knowledge acquisition.