Our experience exhibiting at the Royal Armouries Museum

For our Applied Game Design module, we needed to apply game design theory or technology to an area outside of games. We decided we would like to do something with live motion tracking using the Xbox Kinect V2 and came up with some ideas on how we could utilise the technology to create something that would benefit the Royal Armouries.

When we first got hold of the Kinect we made various prototypes to figure out what we could feasibly achieve. In the end, we wanted to create a dynamic, interactive area within the Royal Armouries where visitors engage with historical avatars in real time. 

We envisioned a designated area featuring a large display screen with the motion capture device installed above. This setup would allow the device to track the movements of up to six visitors simultaneously, who will see their actions mirrored by various historical avatars on the screen.

The avatars could include a diverse array of figures, such as a viking, a knight in medieval plate armour, a Samurai, a Roman soldier, a Norse warrior, and a Saxon. Each avatar would be represented in full historical regalia, and their movements would directly match those of the visitors. The overall effect would resemble the magic of Night at the Museum, bringing history vividly to life.

We approached the Royal Armouries with our concept and they agreed to support it by providing us with one of their public event spaces they would normally use for combat demonstrations. Through consultation with the museum, we further refined our prototype and planned on how we could best use the space available to us. We acquired a very bright projector, since the area was very well lit, and a projector screen that supported back projection.

One thing we didn’t expect going into this project would be the amount of time spent organising the event itself, which took time away from development. Arrangements such as finding a date, ensuring we complied with Health and Safety standards and PAT testing all required significant coordination between our team, Leeds Beckett, and the Royal Armouries. 

After a lot of work, we finally had the exhibit set up in the museum for a full day on 20th December 2024. With the help of museum staff, we rearranged the area and started setting up the space with tape and fences that would deal with the trip hazards. The projector was erected and attached to the inner railings securely with shrink wrap. It was elevated high enough so the fence would not obstruct the view. We identified what the Kinect was able to see and marked the area on the ground using masking tape so users would know where the playable area was.

Through on-site testing, we found that although the software could handle up to six people at a time, the small space available to us was too crowded for six people so we limited the max user number to three. We still used all six of the avatars which would be chosen at random.

The exhibit was very popular with children and families, which is what we hoped, and the Armouries have suggested having us back at some point in the future, but this time with one of the built in displays at the Armouries, so we’d have a better sized play area and a better screen. The Armouries have said they have been trying to expand their engagement with digital media so this project has come along at a great time.

You can take a look at the exhibit in action here.