The project aims a) to design an innovative, accessible and immersive adventure game, which is based on the visitors' tour of places with a special cultural and traditional footprint in Corfu city, showcasing components of cultural creation, art and local tradition using modern technology for mixing / augmenting audiovisual reality and determining the user's position, b) the development and pilot application of the platform aiming at its promotion as an innovative alternative immersive tour in areas of the city with a strong cultural character and c) the support of the local market, commercial activity and overall tourism product of Corfu through a system of rewards integrated in the playful features of the application.
More specifically, the platform makes it possible for visitors to browse the points of interest of Corfu town, through the active participation (and not the passive one - as it happens until now) of the visitor himself. It borrows the basic characteristics of games belonging to the category of adventure games, but which are used in the extended area of Corfu town (which is also the area of action of the game), utilizing the modern level of technology in the fields of a) location awareness, b) audiovisual composition for the creation of new reality, in the scope of which both virtual and augmented reality are included for the specific purposes of the proposal; c) non-linear narration, which allows the dynamic rearrangement of the content and the evolution of the game based on the user's/player's movement choices; and d) the personalised adaptation of the content to the player's needs, with the main examples being, on the one hand, the language of the content and, on the other hand, the strict adherence to the guidelines.
The design of the game is based on a carefully structured and scientifically documented scenario, which will allow the active participation and involvement (and ultimately immersion) of the visitor in his/her tour, through the solution of puzzles and the finding of answers, watching audiovisual content that shifts the development of the plot in space and time beyond the boundaries of reality, and the gradual upgrading of the visitor's profile with new features (depending on the successful completion of specific steps during the tour) and the consequent final award of an honorary title at the end of the tour. The integrated reward system works as an interface with the axis of strengthening the tourist product as it is accompanied by the granting of special privileges directly exploitable in the local market, in accordance with relevant memoranda of understanding with commercial operators.
The game platform is implemented on portable systems (e.g. mobile phones and tablets with iOS/android operating system), so that it can be run from the visitor's device, without the need for specific equipment. It should be noted that the above platforms constitute the vast majority of mobile systems used on a daily basis, catering for a large number of visitors.
