An augmented reality tool (application) including historical information, a game component, and a method for user evaluation of the application

Description

The Institute of Art Design +Technology (IADT), in collaboration with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLR), has received funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to develop an Augmented Reality mobile app to engage citizens on sustainability in the region. The vision of the project is to develop an interactive educational exhibit using both a physical scaled model (not subject to RFT) and an Augmented Reality (AR) tool (this RFT) based on the new Fernhill Park and Gardens in Stepaside, that will spark curiosity and engagement in STEM from groups currently identified as being under-engaged. Visitors to the exhibition will bear witness to anthropogenic impacts on the landscape in Fernhill over the centuries via AR and audio-visual media. Visitors will view the changes in landscape and land uses from the time of mass deforestation on the island of Ireland during the time of the British occupation through to the time of the planting of a shelterbelt in the 1800s and on to the modern era of rehabilitation and naturalisation of the flora and fauna alongside the modernisation of services delivered as a public park. The project will have a physical, scaled model of Fernhill that will be situated in Marlay Park (which is not the subject of this RFT). The physical model will represent the grounds of Fernhill Park as they currently exist, prior to any further developments on site such as the installations of renewable energy sources. The physical model will be developed separately and used as a focal point for education workshops. This is the first AR app to be developed for this group. The content for the historical background, maps, and imagery of Fernhill Park and Gardens will be supplied by DLR. Further content (historical, future assumptions), images (existing imagery), and voiceovers (if necessary for a narrator) can be provided to the company.