Abstract
Taking advantage of augmented reality technologies this thesis describes a solution to enhance the interaction between people and objects in museums. People are rarely able to manipulate objects in classical object-oriented exhibitions or, when it is possible, they do it with constrains. Museums can use augmented reality technologies more often in a playful way to enhance interaction and deliver new content among their public. This project was created for Faraday´s Museum (FM) at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon. In order to increase the amount of interaction inside and outside Faraday´s Museum exhibitions we created and developed a gaming application that uses augmented reality technologies named Extended Play at FM. By using this application, the user/player can learn content about real objects allowing her/him to interact with digital replicas of the original pieces. Our goal is to provide interaction experiences in Museums questioning the relationship between users/players and objects to understand if people connect more deeply with the available content and learn through the process of interacting with digital augmented content. Starting with the main research question: Can augmented reality and human-machine interaction enhance and increase the player's engagement with artifacts available in museum spaces? The aim of this research is to provide interaction experiences in museums questioning the relationship between players and objects to better understand if people connect more deeply with the available content and learn through the process of interaction with increased digital content.