is a gamified VR mudlarking experience and AR-chive
that is designed to foster and rebuild a strong connection
between the community and the City of London through
artefacts and anecdotes that are excavated from the
foreshores of the River Thames
PARTNER : Royal College of Art + Museum of London Docklands (2024)
KEYWORD : Game Design, XR, Field Research, Community Engagement
TEAM : Dunni Fadeyi, Haowen Ma, Mengna Gao, Wei Yi
🌊
Context : Ocean and Cities
LarkQuest XR was developed as a part of the Grand Challenge 2023/24 unit at the
Royal College of Art for their New Economic Models for the Ocean (NEMO) initiative
as a UNESCO Ocean Decade Implementing Partner.
The project aimed to examine and address the wicked challenges that prevail in the designated boroughs of London, United Kingdom, under the theme of ‘Ocean and Cities’, thereby helping the city build a more empathetic and resilient relationship with its waterbodies and environments.
Adopting co-design and place-based approaches, our brief revolved around the
‘City of London’, a self-governed district located within Greater London which is not
only home to renowned cultural landmarks, financial institutions, and legal powerhouses but also steeped in history with its roots tracing back to a square mile, first established
by the Romans as Londonium.
🔍 Identified Problem Area
& individuals are largely disconnected and disengaged with the rich historic and
cultural tapestry of the City of London
depleting health of the River Thames owing to the ignorance towards the impacts
that the health of the river could have on the health of the city and its communities
🔭 Opportunity Space : Mudlarking
archaelogical site in Britain - cumulating countless objects discarded or dropped by
communities that frequented. The dense, anaerobic mud of the River Thames has helped
preserve these objects in their original states for years.
in a hunt to discover historic artefacts, recover relics and excavate stories that date
back to Medieval & Post-Medieval times.
🥽 Introducing LarkQuest
LarkQuest XR is a gamified treasure hunt and AR-based museum archive that has been meticulously crafted and co-designed with real-life Thames Mudlarks and Museums to inspire a sense a sense of respect and responsibility towards the River Thames, the City of London and a shared heritage of the Community.
This three-level experience has been designed to deliver a journey packed with high engagement, hands-on immersion and rich information
(built with Unreal Engine 5)
🗿 Level 01: Dig Deep
Set against the iconic backdrop of the City of London, you are challenged with the task of collecting as many objects of intrigue along the shoreline before the next tide hits and you run out of time. While you forage the foreshores, answer questions right to unlock boost tools like shovels, metal detectors or torchlights to help you dig faster.
📜 Level 02: Immerse
After collecting a plethora of items, you are tested with the task of classifying and sorting them as Historic Artefacts, Recyclable Objects or Items of Trash.
At the end of this quest, your collection score will let you unlock a series of immersive stories attached to your favourite finds, for example:
- Select the Roman Clay Pot to witness the rise & fall of the Roman empire and civilization
- Select the Plastic Bottles to learn the mind-numbing realities of how discarded items have been clogging the River Thames and threatening its biodiversity
- Select the Oyster Shell to learn about how it can be recycled to aid conservation efforts carried out by local environmental organisations like the ZSL and ENORI
🏛️ Level 03: AR-chive
Next, you gain access to the AR-chive, an archeological museum that houses your latest finds amongst an infinite repository of virtual artefacts that has been curated by 3D scanning artefacts from the Museum of London, Docklands and from the personal collections of Thames Mudlarks
🎞️ Behind the Scenes: Stakeholder Engagement, Research & Fieldwork
and community enagament-driven insights that we gathered along
the way. We used a combination of methods and tools including:
Trust Director, Council Representatives)