GAMIFICATION in the Museum of the FUTURE

The Universalmuseum Joanneum (UMJ) preserves around 5 million cultural, natural, and art historical objects. In order to fulfill its social responsibility, the UMJ, which consists of 20 museums and one zoo, is already focusing on digital strategies and infrastructures.
The UMJ faces the key challenge of making the transition from purely digital availability of its collections to actual use, relevance, and engagement for different target groups. Although digital infrastructures and object databases already exist, these are primarily designed for documentation and research and not explicitly for younger, digitally affine visitors. Today, these visitors expect interactive, personalized, and emotional experiences.

The improvement therefore primarily relates to the conceptual orientation: the aim is to develop the museum from a “place of display” into a participatory cultural space. This means linking analog, digital, and hybrid offerings in such a way that low-threshold, inclusive access is created while significantly enhancing the quality of the experience. Visitors should no longer be passive consumers, but active co-creators who can help shape narratives, discover content in a playful way, and make their own contributions.
Existing digital approaches show a low degree of innovation. To remain attractive, the UMJ must develop disruptive innovations that adapt mechanisms from gaming, EdTech, XR, and tourism and transfer them to the museum. The goal is to significantly increase learning motivation, engagement, and the quality of the experience.

Specific areas for improvement:
• Narrative dimension: Objects and collections must be embedded in new stories that transcend physical and digital spaces.
• Interactivity: Visitors need tools to interact with the content.
• Gamification approaches: Game mechanics should not be applied superficially, but integrated in a didactically well-thought-out manner (sustainable learning/motivation).
• Hybrid formats: Offerings should be flexibly combinable (on-site, digital, mobile).
• Inclusion and low thresholds: Even people who are less interested in museums should be attracted by barrier-free, easily accessible formats.
The real challenge is to transform the understanding of museums: from static archives to lively places of play, participation, and discourse.

How can the Universalmuseum Joanneum transform its analog and digital collections through innovative, playful, and participatory formats in such a way that they become relevant, inclusive, and inspiring for various target groups?

In its ideal state, the UMJ will become a forward-looking, participatory cultural space in which analog, digital, and hybrid formats seamlessly intertwine. It will succeed in expanding the classic concept of a museum—collecting, preserving, researching, exhibiting, and communicating—to include the dimension of immersion.

The extensive collections of the individual museums of the UMJ are embedded in new narrative contexts that transcend physical and digital spaces. This creates a dynamic museum experience: visitors experience exciting, immersive stories that create emotional connections and invite repeated engagement.
Instead of static information offerings, gamification elements, interactive quests, reward systems, or collaborative challenges promote sustainable learning. This transforms a visit to the museum into an inspiring experience that encourages repeat visits. It is crucial that solutions are not only developed for a single target group, but are relevant to several groups in order to ensure a high level of engagement and lasting loyalty among visitors.

Furthermore, the new solution works for as many of the UMJ's collections as possible and creates connections between the individual buildings, resulting in a holistic, cross-institutional museum experience.
At the same time, it provides low-threshold, inclusive access. Hybrid formats ensure that the museum is relevant to different target groups – regardless of age, education, origin, or mobility. Even people who previously had little connection to the museum find access and are actively involved. Technologies such as AR/VR or adaptive learning systems are not an end in themselves, but create added value through interactivity, empathy, and participation.

The UMJ is thus developing into a flagship project in the European museum landscape:
• A place where cultural heritage is not only displayed, but also experienced and possibly even helped to shape.
• A space that facilitates dialogue, creativity, and self-efficacy.
• A museum that not only imparts knowledge, but also turns a visit into an experience.

The ideal state is characterized by the UMJ acquiring a contemporary, relevant, and attractive profile that is sustainable in a pluralistic society. Cultural heritage is made accessible in a playful, emotional, and interactive way—and thus asserts itself in the long term against other forms of leisure and entertainment. “Games” are linked to the museum's content and encourage visitors to come and see for themselves.
The Universalmuseum Joanneum thus becomes the museum of the future: a lively, inclusive, and participatory cultural space that generates education, enthusiasm, and loyalty in equal measure.

Submission documents for companies
In order to gain a well-rounded first impression of innovative products, services, and potential solution partners, interested companies are requested to submit the following documents in a structured format:

1. Brief profile of your company
   o Name, legal form, location(s)
   o Core competencies and unique selling propositions
   o Relevant references in the fields of culture, education, gamification, XR, or comparable projects
2. Presentation of the proposed solution
   o Brief, concise description (max. 2 pages)
   o Innovative character and relevance to the goals of the UMJ (participation, gamification, hybrid formats)
   o Presentation of the added value for visitors (e.g., quality of experience, accessibility, etc.)
   o Technological and methodological approaches (e.g., AR/VR, digital platforms, participatory tools)
3. Conceptual approach and feasibility
   o Initial ideas for integration into museum operations and existing infrastructures
   o Assessment of feasibility and scalability
   o Time frame and organizational framework for a possible pilot project
4. Team and contact persons
   o Brief introduction of the people in charge
   o Contact information

Summary of Added Value:
Highlight your unique selling proposition and key advantages! What makes your solution particularly innovative? What sets you apart?
These documents are intended to provide a concise, informative overview of innovation potential, solution ideas, and partner competencies, and serve as a basis for further selection and in-depth discussions.

Confidential information (for the jury only):
Use the technical information provided and indicate whether you can meet these requirements. Confidential information (for the jury only):
Give us an idea of what your proposal means in terms of costs and effort. This will help the sponsors to design the procurement project within the right framework at an early stage. Please describe this information with reference to the project.
In this text field, you can enter additional information that you would like to share exclusively with the project managers. Alternatively, you can send a PDF by email to the challenge moderators.

In addition, a cover image is required. This is your visual flagship in the overview of submissions for this challenge.

Optionally, you may also attach files or graphics that complement, but not duplicate or replace, the texts in the form fields!

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Submissions as a consortium are possible. Please be brief (guideline: maximum 10-12 presentation slides or 4-5 DIN A4 pages). This challenge is part of a market exploration. It is therefore not necessary to prepare specially developed drafts or feasibility studies for this occasion. Language: german or english.

References:
If you already have a market-ready product, please include references or reference projects, including photos, with your submission.