Month: May 2021

WHAT:

The city of Venice is decaying and losing its culture. The inhabitant population of the city has dramatically dropped because the city is becoming unliveable. 

One of the factors for this is, is mass tourism, which is where I would like to introduce change. 

I propose to change the unbeneficial habits of the most unprofitable group of tourists (the strollers) for them to become more sustainable and, more apt to support Venice’s dying culture.

Provisional question:

How can I make unprofitable mass tourists behave more like cultural tourists to promote sustainable tourism in Venice?

WHY:

Being part Venetian I was able to witness first-hand how Venice has changed for the worst. Its culture and infrastructure are threatened. Residents live in fear of seeing their home being turned into a Disneyland.

Venice’s exceptional topography, geographic location, culture and history make it irreplaceable, universal even. 

Residents and tourists should be able to experience the best version of Venice. It is meant to be shared with the world as long as it is done respectfully and not to the detriment of the locals.

HOW:

I will gamify the tourist experience to transform the cultural visit into an adventure. Having tourists trailing off from the packed tourists routes and spending time in cultural institutions and deserted areas of the city will help them being more sustainable.

Stage 1:

to best understand how to operate the project I have created surveys each targeting a different group: the venetians, people who have been to Venice and people who have not yet been to Venice.

To create a tourist experience I need to learn about Venice’s history, researching five main categories: museums, churches, artisans, legends and hidden gems. 

I aim to have a group of strollers experience one of each.

Stage 2:

I will have to speak to professionals, especially in tourism and gamification. I am already in contact with a few such as a specialised private tour guide and I have been sending out emails to more experts in tourism and gamification. 

I will need to contact cultural institutions for them to become involved. They will become part of the narrative and will interact with the tourists.

I hope to finish this stage by June.

Stage 3:

This stage will involve creating a prototype of the gamified tourist tour experience, and then testing it with my stakeholders.

More minor interventions will follow over the summer.

Stage 4:

Motivate a group of strollers to visit 3 cultural sights (if possible, off the beaten track):

A museum/gallery

A Church

And an Artisan shop

WHAT IF:

This research is of value to the tourists as they will have an experience outside the carefully manufactured and unauthentic tourist routes. 

It will benefit the Venetians as the project will encourage a more sustainable and responsible tourism, which would give back to the city and, therefore, improve Venetians’ quality of life. Finally, this research could also inspire other locations plagued by mass tourism to follow a similar process of gamification.

To gamify the tourist tour experience would ideally help motivate the day tourists to drift away from the packed tourist routes and to visit cultural institutions (which they tend not to do).

What is Gamification?

the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity

I will try to apply these elements to this tour of Venice

There are 3 basic psychological needs that make a good game:

Autonomy

The choice that people make and why they make them

Competence

The ability to be challenged appropriately 

Challenge that matches our skill level

Not too easy that it becomes boring and not too difficult that we become anxious 

Relatedness 

Our connection and support with others

4 additional elements:

• Goals
• Rules
• Challenge/conflict
• Feedback

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Interesting Ted talks on the subject:

The Power of Gamification in Education | Scott Hebert | TEDxUAlberta. 2018

Gamification to improve our world: Yu-kai Chou at TEDxLausanne

Thoughts:

These are all things I must think about to create an engaging and interactive experience.

A clear goal that you’re working towards

The tourists will be trying to solve a murder while looking for a mysterious cursed object (to be determined).

Clear progress towards completing that goal

They will have to follow the clues, each sending them to the next with the possibility to speak with a local involved in the the game. Help will be found in the cultural institutions.

Clear and immediate feedback to tell you how you are doing

This is a point I still need to work on. The app may recognise when a clue has been found and showcase supportive messages

A balance of challenge and skill

Observation, attention to detail and patience will be the skills necessary in order to complete the game.

QR Codes:

I thought of the possibility of creating non-invasive QR codes as a way for people to move on in the game Ex: scanning the QR code will unlock a riddle that must be solved. It could also show the image of an object that must be found. The possibilities are endless

Helpful Apps:

This app allows users to create their own scavenger hunts, this could be a nice way to test the idea before designing my own app:

https://en.actionbound.com

This is an easy code-free app maker, in case I want to develop and app:

https://www.goodbarber.com/create/apps/?gclid=CjwKCAjwv_iEBhASEiwARoemvF_EJgWD60yp1FlYT2Zw90wkDw1tl7iYtuaUfrlbyGdXbHWsk4cGZRoCNUAQAvD_BwE

Photogrammetry:

This is another way of making the game interactive, although slightly more complicated.

It is the science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through the process of recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant imagery and other phenomena.

Lievendag, N. (2017) Single-Camera Photogrammetry. Available at: https://3dscanexpert.com/beginners-guide-3d-scanning-photogrammetry/ (Accessed: May 23 2021).

The idea would be to integrate virtual objects to the tour in order for the tourists to  get a sense of what is no longer there (Ex: a statue, a wall, a pillar etc). It can also be used to support the narrative by adding what would look like magical elements.

The problem is that the apps that provide this tool only work with LIDAR, which can only be found in the newer iPhones.

A way around this problem would be to use models that have already been made:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/search/?q=statue&searchTab=model

However, I might find what I need.

What could go wrong with gamification:

• Me not having the skills to create something that works
• Playing a game may distract from the city’s history 
• May cause inappropriate behaviour in places where respect must be shown (ex: church, museum)
• May not interest older generations

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Works cited:

Aber, J. Ries, J. Marzolff, I. Aber, S. (2019) Small-Format Aerial Photography and UAS Imagery. Netherlands: Elsevier. 

TEDx Talks (2014) Gamification to improve our world: Yu-kai Chou at TEDxLausanne. February 26 2014. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Qjuegtiyc&t=860s (Accessed: May 15 2021)

TEDx Talks (2018) The Power of Gamification in Education | Scott Hebert | TEDxUAlberta. May 7 2018. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOssYTimQwM (Accessed: May 15 2021)

The individual vs the group:

I am still unsure how to balance an individual’s experience with the one of the group. On the one hand, I want to offer the individual the best experience they can get, unlike the massive tour groupes where usually the bigger gainers are the ones at he front. The ones at the back only get glimpses of the conveyed information.

On the other hand, I still want to promote a sense of community, groups helping each other to find clues and interacting with locals.

Overall I would like tourists who cannot hire private tour guides to have the maximum experience, while maintaining a sense of community.

This sense could also be found in the fictional “knighthood”, which the tourists could join.

Balance between technology and reality:

This uncertainty comes from choosing the right vessel for the project. So far, three main options seem plausible: a real tour guide, a printed tour, an app.

Although an app is particularly compatible with the project, it is difficult to offer something authentic while heavily relying on technology. The point is not to have people walking around the city with their eyes fixated on their phones. The aim is to create an immersive exploration of the city.

One of the ways I thought I could balance this is by having audio recordings of a character, which would help the users interact with the space while absorbing information without having to look at their phone.

This leads to question whether I have the skills and time to develop an app, as simple and practical as the final product may be.

Communicating the project to others:

Another thing that I find difficult is finding the words to simply but effectively explain the project to somebody else. Fear of judgement is always present. I especially fear communicating with Venetians as their opinion on my attempt to relieve some of the pressure of mass tourism is very important to me.

It is all about finding the right method to get people exited about the project.

As I plan to gammify parts of the city of Venice I need to be very familiar with its geography, identifying the areas that are empty of tourists, which have interesting locations to visit. These will help me build the tour routes.

Index:

• Map of the most popular tourist routes
• Map of the interesting locations
• Tour Guide suggestions
• Possible routes
• Field research, Diamond route
• Creating a new route
• Visual documentation of the stops
• Choosing a different Venetian Legend

Map of the most popular tourist routes:

(The aim would be to stay away from those)

Map of the interesting locations:

There are various categories, each tour will contain one of each.

• Churches (purple cross)
• Artisans (orange heart)
• Museums (blue temple)
• Legends (green star)
• Hidden Gems (red square)
• Tour guide’s suggestions (yellow markers)

Tour guide suggestions:

I reached out to Marco Loredan, founder of The Venice Experience. It is a travel agency that specialises in the organisation of conferences, visits of villas, palaces, gardens and historical cellars that are not open to the public in Venice and on the mainland. www.thevenicexperience.com

All the yellow pointer on the maps were his suggestions of special places off the beaten track. He helped enrich my routes and discover new places.

Email exchange:

Possible Routes:

(Left side of the Gran Canal)

Emerald (990 m)

• Palazzo Ca’ Zenobio
• (Find a hidden Gem)
• Legatoria Polliero Venezia
• Frari Basilica
• Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia (scary light)

Onyx (size 1, 42 km)

• Ca’ Rezzonico
• Frari Basilica
• Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia (scary light)
• Sergio Boldrin (masks) 
• Santa Maria Mater Domini (Cute square)

Amber (size 1, 35km)

• Palazzo Mocenigo
• Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia (scary light)
• Frari Basilica
• Sergio Boldrin (masks) 
• Santa Maria Mater Domini (Beautiful square)

(Right of the Gran Canal)

Diamond (size 2, 22 km)

• Hidden Gem (Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo) really cool stair case
• Chiesa di San Zaccaria
• Palazzo Grimani
• Sotoportego dei Preti (the legend of the mermaid)
• L’Artista Della Barbaria Venezia (masks)

This particular route seems to be the most promising at the moment. I need to research in depth each of the locations.

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Field research, Diamond route:

20/06/ 2021

Here I document the Diamond route, its positive aspects and challenges. By the end of this field research I had made up my mind that I had to redesign the itinerary completely.

I started the day like any other person starts the day in Venice, by getting lost. Although I am half Venetian and have spent various holidays in the city I still lack a true local’s knowledge of the streets.

For each stop on the route I wrote some bullet points in my notebook (positive and negative attributes of the locations). I took pictures to document the route and for inspiration for the narration and history of the guide.

Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo:

• The little campo is a good place to gather and start the game
• Tickets can be booked to visit the inside
• The area in front of it can get a little crowded (just because the space is narrow)
• The place is not too crowded, however, there are fewer tourists at the moment than there would normally be at this time of year
• It is hidden away in an unassuming location, which enhances the surprise when one finds it as it is beautiful.

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Chiesa di San Zaccaria:

• The Square where the church is situated is quiet and spacious
• However, one has to walk through very touristy areas to get to it, which is something I am trying to avoid
• The entrance porch to the square is beautiful
• The façade of the church is inspiring
• The older wing of the church is romantic and inside a little garden
• The entrance is free but one must pay to visit the crypt, which is a unique feature of this church (it floods with lagoon water)
• It contains paintings by Giovanni Bellini, and Tintoretto

Chiesa di San Giorgio dei Greci:

Although this stop was not originally part of the tour, I decided to explore it, as Francesco (previous intervention stakeholder) had advised me to include it. Plus it is only 5 minutes away from the previous location.

• Very private and peaceful
• Spacious
• Places to sit and trees
• Got attacked by mosquitos
• CCTV
• (did not explore the inside as it was closed)

Sotoportego Dei Preti (legend location):

• It is very far away from the other stops
• From there, we need to retrace our steps in order to reach the next stop (not very interesting and counter productive)
• Located in a more quiet area of the city, which is nice

L’Artista Della Barbaria (artisanal masks):

This stop sadly shows how much Venice was hit by the Covid crisis as the shop had recently closed when I found it. This was the only artisanal boutique that I could find online in that neighbourhood, which made me panic a little. Fortunately, while walking to the next stop I stumbled upon two other artisan boutiques, which had never appeared online. What they do is beautiful and they are very open to talk about their craft.

Palazzo Grimani:

• By the campo Santa Maria Formosa, which is in a very authentic area.
• It is the side of Venice that I want to show: more private but just as beautiful.
• I did not go in, lack of time but will visit it next time.

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Conclusion:

In conclusion, thanks to this field research and to the intervention that followed (I tested the route with a tourist stakeholder, see here) I realised that most of these locations were either too distant from each other or surrounded by tourist routes. Thus, I decided to redesign it completely based on my newly acquired knowledge and the feedback and advice from my stakeholders and experts.

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Creating a New route:

24/06/2021

Following my previous intervention (25/05/2021) where I tested the diamond route with a stakeholder (more information here), and following various conversations with experts, I decided to draw a new itenerary in the Castello district. This time I would make sure to avoid any tourist routes and to offer a very special itinerary.

What it contains:

After walking around the district numerous times and taking into consideration what stakeholder Francesco Loredan had advised me to add to the itinerary I came up with a new alternative.

• The church Santa Maria dei Miracoli
• Legend at the Saint Mark’s Scuola
• The Church San Giovanni e Paolo
• Artisans
• Church San Francesco della Vigna
• Palazzo Grimani

There are more stops than in my previous tours because the area is very rich in culture.

Route Variations:

Version 1:

• The church Santa Maria dei Miracoli
• Legend at the Saint Mark’s Scuola
• The Church San Giovanni e Paolo
• Church San Francesco della Vigna
• Artisans
• Palazzo Grimani

As I was testing the itinerary, I wondered which route I should take from San Francesco della Vigna to the Artisans. I went on a little exploration and found a very scenic way to reach it (From D to E on the map). Furthermore, from A to B is fruit of an exploration of mine, it avoids completely the main road. I even stumbled upon a palace where some scenes of the film Casanova (2007) were shot.

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However, I discovered something very surprising while walking under the embellished underpass displayed above. It had ben restored by the international association of the “Cavalieri di San Marco” or “the Knights of San Marco”. This is problematic, as I was not aware that a group of people had resurrected the order and was planning to use their name in the game. I may just have to invent my own knighthood.

Version 2 (lagoon path):

This version is structured like the previous one except that the path to the D stop runs along the lagoon where there is a very good view of the island of San Michele, Venice’s cemetery. I added this alternative because two experts and some other locals had mentioned that the lagoon was Venice’s best feature.

Version 3:

This one has a slightly different structure as it ends with San Francesco della vigna instead of with Palazzo Grimani.

Version 4 (short):

I also designed a shorter tour in case the other one ended up being too long. The church San Francesco della Vergine was removed.

Other:

I used to have a version of this route which included the palazzo del Cammello, which had a very interesting story attached to it but it turned out that it was located in a completely different district. In Venice, Google maps is not always reliable.

Visual documentation of the stops:

San Giovanni e Paolo Church:

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Scuola di San Giovanni (legend):

Santa Maria dei Miracoli:

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San Francesco della Vigna:

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Artisan Shops:

Papier Mâché

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Schegge:

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Palazzo Grimani:

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Choosing a different Venetian Legend:

5/07/2021

I want to include a Venetian legend to the tour. I used to have settled on a legend attached to the Scuola di San Marco’s entrance, as one can notice strange carvings of ships and of a levantine holding a heart. However, I realised that it would not be practical as it would involve getting very close to the entrance, which is guarded by security guards, and may create congestion.

Luckily, I soon realised that there was another legend already located in the route under the sottoportego della Corte Nova. Indeed, there is an unusual red stone.

The New legend:

Rumour has it that in 1630 a woman named Giovanna, who lived in the Sestiere di Castello, had a vision of the Madonna who recommended her, that to overcome the plague to paint a painting representing her image together with Saints Rocco, Sebastian, and Justina. To exhibit it on the wall of the Sotoportego della Corte Nova. The district was untouched by the disease. And the plague disappeared. The painting also disappeared. But one red stone came to be.  It is believed that the plague has sunk into it. 

Some Venetians avoid stepping on the stone because it is considered a bearer of misfortune but others think it as a bringer of money and love.

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