Blitz aims to bring videogames to museums
Blitz Games is to bring videogames technology to the museums sector with the acquisition of Virtual Experience Company.
The Virtual Experience Company, launched in 1999, develops real-time virtual experiences that enable visitors with restricted mobility to explore inaccessible areas. Blitz Games aims to use the acquisition to make new business by applying gaming technology to the museums and heritage sector.
The technology will mean visitors will be able to use handheld consoles, such as the PlayStationPortable, to access virtual content and interact with exhibitions.
The company hopes the technology will nurture children’s interest in history and heritage, by adding a new dimension to museums allowing them to interact with historical characters and scenes, such as battles.
Virtual Experience Company founder Mike Gogan will head the new division at Blitz Games. He says: "This partnership brings the visuals and engaging, interactive and multi-player gameplay you get with video-games to sectors that are increasingly interested in connecting with a digitally enabled generation."
Blitz is behind titles such as Bratz, Karaoke Revolution and Reservoir Dogs and already uses games techniques and technologies to create training-based games. It is leading a development programme, funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, to develop prototypes and metrics to measure their effectiveness.
The Virtual Experience Company’s past multimedia projects have included Shakespeare’s birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s cottage in Stratford and virtual reconstructions of Roman Colchester and Kahun, a 4,000-year-old pyramid-builders’ settlement on the Nile.
