River of Time: A Game for Community Engagement

FAIN: MT-277003-21

Public Museum School (Grand Rapids, MI 49504-5351)
Alex Forist (Project Director: June 2020 to December 2023)

Prototyping of a web-based, mobile game that explores the history of the Grand River.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) will create a state-of-the-art digital learning game called River of Time that will engage thousands of players. River of Time will encourage players to explore and interact with humanities content through their smartphones or tablets without having to download an app. The goal of the project is to create a scalable platform, running on the web, that will allow the GRPM to deliver curated information, digital collections, and fun interactive experiences directly through ‘activation points’, triggered by a device’s camera, at locations anywhere in the community. Using personal devices, the game will be offered to the general public, who will be able to access it anywhere, anytime, at no cost. The software will lay the foundation for innovative community engagement that directly ties human experience to Museum quality content. The prototype will focus on activation points along the 40-mile-long Lower Grand River corridor.

Associated Products

River of Time (Game/Simulation)
Title: River of Time
Author: Yeti CGI
Author: Grand Rapids Public Museum
Abstract: The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) has created a prototype of a web-based mobile game called River of Time that will encourage thousands of participants to explore the Grand River Watershed and interact with high quality humanities content at landmarks around the region. The scalable prototype was built using open-source Casual OS software and has informed the development of the Public OS platform to allow the GRPM and other organizations to deliver curated information, digital collections, and engaging, interactive experiences at historically and culturally significant real world locations. Because the game prototype will run in a web-browser, anyone will be able to access it for free using their own device. This prototype platform will lay the foundation for even broader community engagement that directly ties the human experience of exploring your place to museum-quality content.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://grpm.org/digital/riveroftime
Primary URL Description: Landing Page for the River of Time ambient user experience. Visitors use their physical location and their smart device to explore the history and culture of the Grand River region as told by the artifacts they collect along the way. Each artifact contains a piece of the River of Time story and an experience that helps connect the user directly to the wonderful materials and information crafted through partnerships with local experts and humanities scholars.
Secondary URL: https://casualos.com/?auxCode=riverOfTime_dev&dev=true
Secondary URL Description: Active development branch of River of Time.
Access Model: open access
Programming Language/Platform: Web, JS (PublicOS)
Source Available?: Yes

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