NONE 20260122073614969 wseas/wseas content-registration-form+ja@crossref.org content-registration-form WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTER RESEARCH 1991-8755 2415-1521 Elissavet G. Kosta Museologist-Researcher, Ionian University, 49100, Corfu, GREECE Konstantinos I. Kotsopoulos R&D Lab, Omega Technology, University of Patras, 26504 Rio Achaia, GREECE Stavros K. Vlizos Museologist-Researcher, Ionian University, 49100, Corfu, GREECE Vasiliki A. Giannaki Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina, 45221 Ioannina, GREECE Nikolaos Papastamatiou Research Department SenseWorks, Ioannina, GREECE Nikolaos V. Karadimas Dept. Military Sciences, Hellenic Army Academy, GREECE This paper presents the initial phases of the ARDION project, which aims to develop a platform for the creation of immersive storytelling experiences for archaeological sites, focusing on the archaeological site of Dodoni. Through a combination of augmented reality (AR), gamification, and precise visitor localization, the project seeks to enrich visitor engagement and promote historical understanding. The work presents an approach to gamified narrative design, the development of initial prototypes, and the preliminary evaluation through surveys and expert consultations. The innovative inclusion of AI-based authoring tools not only enhances visitor interaction but also empowers cultural content creators to build adaptive, story-driven experiences. 01 22 2026 01 22 2026 154 13 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_US 10.37394/232018.2026.14.13 https://wseas.com/journals/cr/2026/a265118-004(2026).pdf Arvanitis, K. (2015) ‘Digital storytelling in museums: Towards a methodological framework’, Museum Management and Curatorship, 30(4), pp. 345–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2015.10425 19. Economou, M. and Meintani, A. (2011) ‘Promising beginnings? Evaluating museum mobile phone apps’, Museums and the Web 2011, [Online]. https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/104173/ (Accessed Date: October 10, 2024). Jung, T., tom Dieck, M.C. and Moorhouse, N. (2018) ‘Tourists’ experiences of virtual reality applications’, Tourism Management, 66, pp. 229–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.12.004 Shilkrot, R., Montfort, N. and Maes, P. (2014) ‘NARratives of augmented worlds’, in IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality - Media, Arts, Social Science, Humanities and Design. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISMARAMH.2014.6935433. Kotsopoulos, K.I. et al. (2019) ‘An authoring platform for developing smart apps which elevate cultural heritage experiences: A system dynamics approach in gamification’, Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 10, pp. 1311–1323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-018-0810-9. (text in Greek) Kosta, E. (2023) Cultural Routes in Greece Prospects for the Creative Economy (Πολιτιστικές διαδρομές στην Ελλάδα: Προοπτικές για την ανάπτυξη του πολιτιστικού τουρισμού). Kardamitsa Pub., Athens, Greece. ISBN: 9789603545781. Wang, H. et al. (2024) “Gamifying Cultural Heritage: Exploring the Potential of Immersive Virtual Exhibitions,” Telematics and Informatics Reports, 15, 100150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teler.2024.100150. Chen, W., Li, T. & Zhang, Y. (2025) “Embodied cognition model for museum gamification cultural heritage communication: a grounded theory study,” npj Heritage Science, 13:239. https://doi.org/10.1038/s40494-025-01821-9. Furht, B. (ed.) (2011) Handbook of Augmented Reality. New York: Springer. Manca, M. et al. (2017) ‘A taxonomy of museum mobile applications’, Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 10(1), pp. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1145/2950053. Xu, N. et al. (2024) “HeritageSite AR: Design and Evaluation of a Mobile Augmented Reality Exploration Game for a Chinese Heritage Site,” Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 17(4), doi: 10.1145/3700881. Güner, S. & Gül, L.F. (2025) “Evaluating Virtual Game Design for Cultural Heritage Interpretation: An Exploratory Study on arkeOyun,” Heritage, 8(6), 208. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8060208. Nishigori, K. & Takeda, H. (2025) “Evaluating Narrative Coherence in Collaborative Storytelling with Generative AI,” Proc. ACM Creativity & Cognition, doi: 10.1145/3698061.3734393. Mishra, A. et al. (2025) “WhatIF: Branched Narrative Fiction Visualization for Authoring Emergent Narratives using Large Language Models,” Proc. ACM Creativity & Cognition, doi: 10.1145/3698061.3726933. Jung, T. and tom Dieck, M.C. (2017) ‘Augmented Reality and Gamification in Heritage: A Review’, Journal of Heritage Tourism, 12(2), pp. 134–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2016.12519 34. Viana, B.S. and Nakamura, R. (2014) ‘Immersive interactive narratives in augmented reality games’, in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 8770, pp. 219–228. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13464- 6_19. Yovcheva, Z., Buhalis, D. and Gatzidis, C. (2014) ‘Empirical evaluation of smartphone augmented reality browsers in an urban tourism destination context’, International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction, 6(2), pp. 10–31. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijmhci.2014040102. Daengbuppha, J., Hemmington, N. and Wilkes, K. (2006) ‘Using grounded theory to model visitor experiences at heritage sites’, Qualitative Market Research, 9(4), pp. 367– 388. Falk, J.H. and Dierking, L.D. (2012) The Museum Experience Revisited. Abingdon: Routledge. Petri, C. (2015) ‘How heritage site tourists may become monument visitors’, Tourism Management, 51, pp. 247–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.05.018.