The Keeper of Paintings

The Keeper of Paintings

Immersive adventure that encourages children to explore and learn about one of the greatest collections of paintings in the world.

The Keeper of Paintings and the Palette of Perception is a mobile-based immersive adventure that encourages children to explore and learn about one of the greatest collections of paintings in the world. Young Gallery visitors are asked to help guide a fictitious Keeper of Paintings to find the lost ‘Palette of Perception’ – a magical object with special gems that gives the Keeper their powers. As they choose their route through the Gallery, responding to the Keeper’s quest, a new digital world is revealed where they can solve puzzles, find hidden secrets, engage with the paintings digitally and collect the magical gems from within the artworks. The Keeper of Paintings is suitable for ages 7-11 and is available for both iOS and Android devices. It is currently available to play at The National Gallery until at least Spring 2023. The Keeper of Paintings was commissioned by the National Gallery, London and StoryFutures, Royal Holloway, University of London as part of StoryFutures China, a research and development project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). StoryFutures China is led by Brunel Design School, Brunel University London.

Contact

Kylie Bryant, Senior Producer, StoryFutures & Alex Book, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Arcade – The Spatial Agency

Lead organisation

Arcade – The Spatial Agency

The Keeper of Paintings

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Videos

The video demonstrates the Keeper of Paintings app in action. AR is an extremely powerful way to connect people to place, but it needs to be used sparingly. In creating the Keeper of Paintings Arcade focused on fostering interaction between the user, the place they are in and the people they are with. At strategic points in the user journey, Keeper Skill Cards are introduced, which effectively time the app out whilst providing the child with a relevant task for the current room (eg ‘Discuss your favourite painting with your grown-up’). The Keeper even advises that they put the device away for a bit!