Enhancing Train Travel with Augmented Reality for Smartphones: The “Tales on Rails” Project
2020
The project “Tales on Rails” describes the research and development of an augmented reality game that can be played on trains with smartphones. The project addresses tourism changes in the digital age; the ubiquitous use of smartphones alters a tourist’s travel experience, from accessing timetables to conveying cultural and historic information or transforming traditional souvenirs. “Tales on Rails” tested a smartphone application allowing tourists to play a game about a crime story on the route between the cities of Lucerne and Interlaken, which is operated by the Swiss railways company zb Zentralbahn AG. The game directly references the environment outside the train on this route as well as cultural themes about the region. The game’s progress is linked to the position of the train, successively unlocking its content on the route. The game is tailored for use by 20 to 30-year-old leisure travellers, and optimized for a group experience in which two to four players collaborate on solving the game; thus, group dynamics during the gaming experience could be investigated. The game features a technologically ambitious program with augmented reality game elements, while minimizing negative impacts on playability by environmental influences such as seasonal and weather conditions. The technical complexity of the concept could be expanded in future iterations. The project “Tales on Rails” was released in July 2019 as fully functional game application in the Google Play Store and the Apple Store.
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