The case of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) and the Victoria & Albert Museum of London

An Introduction

Recently, the museum sector has increasingly evolved from an area linked to the conservation and exhibition of historical-artistic artifacts to a user-centered sector. This change was also reinforced by the greater use of new digital technologies in the enhancement and entertainment of heritage and the development of the audience.

The following work aims to establish whether new technologies, in this case, the world of gaming and gamification, can make the museum experience more effective, fostering better learning, greater and positive emotional and experiential involvement of visitors, and an always increasing attendance of museums.

The paper presents an affirmative answer and is divided into four articles: (1) defines and frames gamification as a highly effective tool capable of transmitting different messages and inducing users to actively participate, outlining the so-called contexts in which it can be applied; (2) the second article tries to establish a link between two apparently different subjects: museums and video games. To then define how the museum is re-interpreted within some “historical” video games. (3\4) The third and fourth articles instead deal with two cases that can be considered the pillars of the gamification-museums relationship: an Italian case “Father and Son”, conceived by Fabio Viola (videogame suitably designed for the Archaeological Museum Nazionale di Napoli) and a foreign case “Secret Seekers”, released on the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition “Road Quarter” in June 2017 (video game designed for the Victoria & Albert Museum in London), which will be outlined later.

In conclusion, the paper offers reasons to believe that technologies, in this case the gaming world, constitute an essential but not always necessary support for museums, as long as they are adopted with precise strategic planning and designed to make effective a greater knowledge of the collections preserved and exhibited in a museum and of the contents of which it is the bearer. The great use and evolution of digital technology that is completely affecting museums, on the other hand, requires a great season of research capable of isolating experiences that do not lead to any concrete product and systemize and provide guidelines for those that are most effective.

1) particular of the videogame “Father and Son” National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN)

2) V&A Museum of London, “Secret Seekers”