Recipes
Adelaide Road
Curzon Memories
Escape from the Tower
Fortnight
Gorillaz: Escape To Plastic Beach
Heads
If Only
Our Broken Voice
Sculpting With Scent
Surreptitious Soundplay
Theatre JukeBOX
Tweeture

Escape From the Tower

Visitors to the Tower of London can download this free iPhone app as a treasure hunt alternative to conventional audio guides, to actively participate in audacious and infamous escapes in the places they really happened. Aimed at family audiences, especially those with older children, the app uses video and audio to offer four choices of real-life escape stories. The historically accurate, location-aware game uses clues hidden within the Tower to trigger content as participants attempt to smuggle virtual letters, ropes and other contraband to help prisoners escape.

COOKING TIME: 2-3 Months

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Ingredients

A fantastic location and venue
Media assets -stories and exhibition
An experience designer with technology expertise
Curators with expertise in the venue and related historical tales
Script writers
Actors to record the final version of the scripts
AppFurnace for prototyping, testing, developing and publishing the app

Cooks Tip

Having the ability to test via the Calvium player is essential for these kinds of apps, otherwise only registered iPhones are able to test or the app needs to be on the app store. Remember that all apps need to be approved by Apple before they are published on the App Store which can take up to two weeks. If it is rejected then a re-submission will need to be approved. Ensure you read and understand the Apple rules very carefully as re-submission can drastically affect the cooking time.

Raising Agent

Escape from the Tower was produced by Calvium and Historic Royal Palaces as part of a research project led by Watershed and funded by the Technology Strategy Board. Partners also included Bristol Old Vic and MShed.

 

Method

Bring together an experience designer with curators from Historic Royal Palaces to discuss ideas for the first iPhone app for this London landmark. Come up with initial proposals for stories and interaction mechanisms for a family game that will engage older children.

Carefully select the stories and mechanisms which are to be included in the first design.

Define the experience as a written script that shows interactions, screen images, main characters, audio file names and significant locations where events can happen.

Prototype and test this early design using “scratch” content from previous experiences in the Tower.

Once you are happy with the overall design, work with script-writers, professional actors and graphic designers to polish the narrative, write, record and produce the audio and visual media.

Test this mixture again with users from your target audience.

Ask participants to complete two questionnaires; one about biographical data and expectations and another feedback form.

Take the main points from these questionnaires; the data can help refine the design of the experience.

Combine this feedback to create a solid mixture with all new, shorter, snappier scripts and a stronger emphasis on purpose within locations.

Ensure maximised accessibility; consider foreign users, not just with regard to language clarity but also not wanting to use 3G on their own devices. Set up a wifi access point by the ticket office that only allows people to access the appstore and download Escape-from-the-tower.

Optimise choices for simplicity and robustness rather than novelty. Once you have achieved your desired consistency, submit to App Store and wait……

Ensure you read and understand the Apple rules very carefully as re-submission can drastically affect your launch plans.

Remember that all apps need to be approved by Apple before they are published on the App Store which can take up to two weeks. If it is rejected then a re-submission will need to be approved.

Once approved, celebrate with a launch party, promotional video and all the marketing you can afford.

Diners Comments

The whole experience helped me learn facts about the history of the tower of London with silly, lovable historical based ideas as well as the famous historical icons.

I enjoyed the way it moved you around the whole site and incorporated several quizzes, some regarding historical facts but most of the questions were about the characters’ dilemmas.

 

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