Running Head: CULTURAL HERITAGE THOUGH EDUTAINMENT

Discovering Jeddah’s Cultural Heritage Through Edutainment

(Utilizing Augmented Reality to Discover Jeddah’s Cultural Heritage)

1710039

MOGR 4402

Capstone 1: Proposal

Dar Al-Hekma University

Heba Obaid

September 29 - 2020
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Introduction

Overview of Topic

Al-Balad is a fascinating tapestry of decaying houses, ancient history and quaint

cobbled streets that is in the historic district of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Al-

Balad has become one of the most visited tourist attractions in Jeddah in the last couple of

years (The National, 2019). Also, as technology has progressed over the years, Augmented

Reality has become more accessible to individuals, improving the edutainment industry as

museums have started using this technology to make the learning experience more

interactive, entertaining and interesting. Furthermore, Augmented Reality is a way in which

people can experience the real world through digital visual creations (The Franklin Institute,

2019). Currently, you find Saudis interested in cultural heritage, but they are unbothered to

educate themselves about it, instead focusing on entertainment solely. This research helps to

find ways of how to connect young Saudi adults to their cultural heritage by using

edutainment in an interactive experience. It could also inspire and teach tourists what Al-

Bald’s cultural heritage was once like.

Definition of important terms

Cultural Heritage, “is an expression of the ways of living developed by a community

and passed on from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects,

artistic expressions and values. Cultural Heritage is often expressed as either Intangible or

Tangible Cultural Heritage” (ICOMOS, 2002). 

Augmented Reality is, “A system that enhances the real world by superimposing

computer-generated information on top of it.” (link.springer.com, 1970).

Scavenger Hunt is “A game, usually played outdoors, in which the players must
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collect various objects from a list of things they have been given.” (collinsdictionary.com,

n.d). However, the definition does not exactly go hand in hand with this researcher’s concept.

The difference will be that the audience will not be collecting anything physically rather they

will just be testing their own knowledge on their own.

Al-Balad is Jeddah Saudi Arabia’s historical landmark full of buildings and narrow

streets. (The National, 2019).

Importance

Personal. I was inspired to do this research because of how my father loves to

visit Al-Balad, and how he used to always tell us stories from the old days. As

a young girl, I often explored the streets of Al-Balad and its houses. Therefore,

I wanted my target audiences to experience Al-Balad’s cultural heritage the

same way I did.

Global. “Culture can give people a connection to certain social values, beliefs,

religions and customs. It allows them to identify with others of similar

mindsets and backgrounds. Cultural heritage can provide an automatic sense

of unity and belonging within a group and allows us to better understand

previous generations and the history of where we come from.” (Admin, 2017).

The previous quote discusses the importance of knowing one’s cultural

heritage background and how it is possible to connect people by knowing what

the previous generations did at that time.

This research investigates how Augmented Reality can educate young

Saudi adults about their cultural heritage in an entertaining way and coming up

with a method to design an interactive edutainment experience for them.

engage with the cultural heritage of Al Balad Jeddah.??

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Target Market/Audience

Primary

Young Saudi Adults ages 18 to 35. These young adults would benefit the most from

the interactive Augmented Reality experience about Al-Balad’s cultural heritage. This age

group was chosen because of their high physical activity and interest in trying new things

(Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, 2020).

Secondary

Tourists can learn about a part of Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage in an edutaining

way.

Research Questions and Objectives

Research Questions

1. What is Augmented Reality?

2. How to edutain people using Augmented Reality technology?

3. How to explain cultural heritage using Augmented Reality?

4. What is the best method of designing an interactive Augmented Reality?

5. Do young adults enjoy learning through entertainment?

Research Objectives

1. To find out what is Augmented reality.

2. To find out how young adults like using technology for edutainment.

3. To know how to edutain young adults using Augmented Reality technology.

4. To know how to design an interactive Augmented Reality for edutainment.

5. To know if young adults would like to learn about heritage by using technology.
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Annotated Bibliography

Keil, J., Pujol, L., Roussou, M., Engelke, T., Schmitt, M., Bockholt, U., &

Eleftheratou, S. (2013, August). A digital look at physical museum exhibits: Designing

personalized stories with handheld Augmented Reality in museums. In 2013 Digital Heritage

International Congress (DigitalHeritage) (Vol. 2, pp. 685-688). IEEE.

This paper talks about using Augmented Reality in museums to enhance the

audience’s experiences in four different ways; “virtual reconstruction of the original aspect;

placement in the original location; visual highlighting of interesting details and annotations;

and recreation of mythological appearances” (Keil, Pujol, Roussou, Engelke, Schmitt,

Bockholt, & Eleftheratou, 2013). This research also discusses the designing methods of

creating an interactive Augmented Reality experience. This paper can help discover how to

combine narratives with the augmented Reality interactivity and the design challenges the

researcher may face.

Gironacci, I. M., Mc-Call, R., & Tamisier, T. (2017, September). Collaborative

Storytelling Using Gamification and Augmented Reality. In International Conference on

Cooperative Design, Visualization and Engineering (pp. 90-93). Springer, Cham.

This paper talks about using Augmented Reality for storytelling purposes, as well as

the methods and ways it can be done. The paper also mentions the issues that they have

examined relating to how the visuals will be carried out and created. this paper can help the

research by understanding how they collaborated storytelling with Augmented Reality and

learn from the issues these researchers faced.

Fakhour, M., Azough, A., Kaghat, F., & Meknassi, M. (2019, July 08). A Cultural

Scavenger Hunt Serious Game Based on Audio Augmented Reality. Advanced Intelligent

Systems for Sustainable Development (AI2SD’2019): Volume 1-Advanced Intelligent

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Systems for Education and Intelligent Learning System, 1102, 1. This paper talks about

creating an Augmented Reality scavenger hunt located in cultural areas.

The scavenger hunt includes interactivity by Audio Augmented Reality Game. This

paper will be used in this research to learn how they made it interactive by using Augmented

Reality and how they kept it interesting and entertaining.

Research Methodology

Method One

One survey will be conducted for young Saudi adults ages 18 to 35. The survey is to

find out if young Saudi adults would be interested in learning about Al-Balad’s cultural

heritage by using technology and if they would like to experience an Augmented Reality

scavenger hunt in Al-Balad Jeddah. It will also help this research by knowing if and how

technology (Augmented Reality specifically) would pique the interest of the target audience.

Another reason for choosing a survey is it could be spread to a variety of people in which the

research can get multiple answers as well as different opinions about the topic.

Method Two

Visual Research will be conducted to find information and opinions from people with

art backgrounds. This will be done by a focus group. Some mockups will take place to be

tested to gather information.

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References

Admin. (2017, April 24). The Importance of Cultural Heritage. Retrieved from

https://www.cultivatingculture.com/2013/04/05/the-importance-of-cultural-heritage/

Fakhour, M., Azough, A., Kaghat, F., & Meknassi, M. (2019, July 08). A Cultural Scavenger

Hunt Serious Game Based on Audio Augmented Reality. Retrieved

from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-36653-7_1

Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2020, August 06). Physical activity, self reported,

adult, by age group. Retrieved from

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310009613

H. (n.d.). Scavenger hunt definition and meaning: Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved from

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/scavenger-hunt

S. (1970, January 01). Augmented Reality. Retrieved from

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/0-387-30038-4_10

The National. (2019, October 02). Explore Al Balad: 9 things to do in Jeddah's oldest

neighbourhood. Retrieved from https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/travel/explore-al-

balad-9-things-to-do-in-jeddah-s-oldest-neighbourhood-1.917849
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Pilot Study
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