Gamifying Museum Exploration: A Virtual Reality Approach to Enhancing Visitor Engagement

Entertainment plays a pivotal role in capturing attention and encouraging self-involvement, enhancing the appeal of experiences through engaging practices like storytelling and game-based activities. This paper investigates the impact of gamification elements on user experience, with a focus on how users perceive interaction, immersion, and learning when these elements are integrated into virtual reality (VR) environments in museum settings. Two versions of a gamified VR experience were developed using the Unreal Engine (UE) 3D computer graphic game engine to ensure high fidelity and presence for end users through real-time simulation. The first version was tested at the Transport Museum in Coventry, UK, providing insights into the improvements to be made to better address the interaction, immersion, and learning aspects. The second refined version was deployed in Geelong and Melbourne, Australia. A quantitative approach was used to compare the two experiences using the mean and significance between items. The findings show a significant improvement in user experience in the second gamified experience in Australia. The enhanced gamified elements promoted motivation and intuitive navigation with minimal game inputs, improving user interaction and concentration while reducing external distractions. The results indicate a notable difference between the two experiences in terms of interaction and immersion, with the simplified inputs in the second experience significantly enhancing usability during VR navigation. Overall, the second experience was more effective than the first regarding mechanics, inputs, and guidance. These results underscore the importance of avoiding complexity and facilitating intuitive interaction when designing gamified experiences.