An Inclusive Prehistory Game by the Blind and Visually Impaired . Creating an Inclusive App Game on Prehistoric Archaeology with the BSVN e.V. for the Permanent Exhibition of the Neanderthal Museum

Can an app game make a museum exhibition on prehistoric archaeology more accessible for guests with visual impairments? This is the research question of the NMsee project, a cooperative undertaking of BSV Nordrhein e.V. and the Neanderthal Museum in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Archaeological museum exhibitions focus largely on visual information transfer and work with non-inclusive underlying concepts of learning and knowledge, which lead to seemingly unbreachable difficulties for blind and visually impaired museum visitors. The approach of the NMsee project is an inclusive one: by creating an app game in the museum which communicates archaeological information in a non-visual way and which can be played independent of one’s visual abilities, the project searches for inclusive ways of museum experiences. The game is created through a participatory and iterative process in order to stay in close contact with the needs and wishes of its target group. Starting in January 2019, the first prototypes and testing sessions will be launched in autumn 2019. This chapter presents the project idea, the problems leading to this research and the future goals of this undertaking.