A Support System for Exhibiting Edo-era Sugoroku Games in Museums

Abstract

We developed a support system for the exhibits of Edo-era sugoroku games in museums. This system assists visitors to learn and play old sugoroku games. Visitors can play the games according to instructions displayed on a monitor and a projector without prior knowledge of sugoroku games. The system provides visitors with a die that is equipped internally with a microcomputer. Since the system detects the value of a die automatically, visitors can easily progress through the game. In addition, the system records the progress of games and the operations performed by visitors, which can be used to analyze visitors' behaviors. The system was used at a special exhibition of the National Museum of Japanese History for eight weeks. We conducted a three-day evaluation with visitors and confirmed that computer-aided Sugoroku raised the interest in Edo-era Sugoroku of over 90% of the visitors. Moreover, the analysis of the log data confirms that the functions of the system can be effective in museum exhibits.