ARTour: an augmented reality collaborative experience for enhancing tourism

Serious games have been recently used for different purposes; a few of them have been developed to support cultural heritage purposes. Pandemics, for instance, change a lot in people’s lives and cause some changes, such as social distancing and lower mobility. Additionally, individuals with physical challenges do not always have the opportunity to experience heritage sites as if they were there. Hence, arises the need for applications that encourage the precautionary measures required without totally isolating the users in similar conditions. The existing serious games in the literature have proven effective for teaching cultural heritage and enhancing tourists’ experiences while at the heritage site. However, less serious games focused on giving the tourists a similar experience, but in the comfort of their homes. Therefore, this study discusses the design, development, and evaluation of ARTour. ARTour is a collaborative serious game that increases players’ engagement and enhances the overall experience, without exposing them to danger during pandemics or similar situations. The player can choose between existing heritage sites, and a timeline, in order to get the full experience.