Art of Play: Exploring the roles of technology and social play in museums

Play is a key element in cultural development, according to the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga.
Nowadays many of us interact with other people in online games and social networks, through multiple
digital devices. But harnessing playful activities for museum learning is mostly undeveloped. In this
chapter we explore play as a structure to support visitor learning, drawing from international research in
museums and interaction design. Specifically, we explore four aspects of play first proposed by Huizinga
(2002) — the ‘free-choice’ aspect of play, play as distinct from ‘real life,’ play as an ordering structure, and
the role of play in bridging communities. We argue that play provides museums with ready-made
structures and concepts which help them plan for visitor learning.