ARtales: AR Mobile Application Using Transformative Learning Through Aesthetic Experience

ARtales presents an augmented reality mobile application developed for the National Gallery of Athens, designed to foster transformative learning through aesthetic experience. The application combines artwork interpretation with gamified, points-based rewards intended to encourage critical thinking about artworks and the social issues they address. The paper frames the app as a bridge between museum education theory and mobile technology, drawing on established work in experiential learning, museum pedagogy, and transformative learning theory.

The empirical component is a preliminary evaluation with twelve postgraduate students in art and digital design, who used the app's "Cypress of Memory" forest-fire scenario and completed three questionnaires followed by an open discussion. Results point to a measurable shift in perception: the rating of the "bad arsonist" as a cause of forest fires fell from 3.83 to 2.58, indicating greater recognition of human negligence as a major factor. Seventy-five percent of participants answered all forest-fire questions correctly, and 58.3% achieved a perfect score on the artwork-matching task. Experience ratings were strongly positive, with 91.7% describing the app as easy to use and creative and 100% describing it as innovative.

The authors are explicit about the limits of these findings. The sample is small, non-representative, and drawn from a single specialized population, so the results cannot be generalized. The study is framed as a preliminary step, with a future pilot implementation recommended before wider deployment. The scope is therefore a single museum, a single exhibit theme, and a short-term, self-reported assessment of acceptance and learning.