Arcade
Immersive engagement for arts & culture
Arcade is an immersive experience agency on a mission to ‘ connect people to place through play ’.
Founded in 2016 and with offices in London and Amsterdam , they have built an extensive catalogue of work with clients across the globe . They cover multiple sectors including sports , entertainment , brands and marketing , but some of their most impactful work comes in location-based arts and culture experiences .
The Keeper of Paintings and the Palette of Perception is an immersive adventure created for The National Gallery in London , supported by StoryFutures , that uses mobile AR and AI technology to motivate children and their families to explore the Gallery and learn about its iconic collection .
Young visitors are asked to help a fictitious Keeper of Paintings find their lost Palette – a magical object with special gems that give them ‘ powers ’ to explore and protect the paintings . As they move through the Gallery , a new digital world is revealed where visitors can solve puzzles , find hidden secrets , and collect the lost gems . Importantly , the quest is filled with device-free moments , where they are challenged to engage directly with the collection and their surroundings - the Keeper regularly tells them to put their device away completely !
The experience is powered by a custom-built AI ‘ archive engine ’ that instantly recognises the paintings and seamlessly serves associated content . This keeps the experience smooth and engaging , but also frees the kids to choose their route through the gallery giving them agency and control of their adventure .
The Keeper of Paintings opened at Easter 2022 and , as of early autumn , well over 10,000 children had embarked on their quest at the Gallery . The Keeper Council - a companion experience on Roblox - launched in July , and Arcade is currently exploring the potential to expand the Keeper Universe to other cultural institutions .
124 Arcade