Computer-Aided Sugoroku Games in the Edo Period Using Interactive Techniques for Museum Exhibits

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to raise interest in a kind of Japanese board game Sugoroku in the Edo period, and to support exhibits of it at museums. We developed a computer-aided Sugoroku games using modern interactive techniques. In this system, the user rolls a dice-type device equipped with a microcomputer. Since the system detects the values of the dice-type device, the players can simply play by just throwing the die. By projecting the game's progress on the Sugoroku sheet with a ceiling projector, the system shows the current positions of the players and the candidate destinations. With this guide, they can play Sugoroku games even without knowing the rules. The system was used at a special exhibition of the National Museum of Japanese History for eight weeks. We evaluated our computer-aided Sugoroku games with visitors on three days. Almost half of the visitors marked the best score for all items, indicating that this system was successfully accepted by them.