HP researchers are working with the U.K.’s Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that cares for and conserves five unique palaces, to pilot a new location-aware adventure game in which visitors to the Tower of London help virtual prisoners to escape.

The game, developed by the Mediascapes research team at HP Labs and staff at the Tower of London, uses HP iPAQ handheld devices and location sensors including GPS. Digital files containing voices, images, music and clues are placed in specific locations using the HP Labs Mediascape authoring toolkit.

As players move into a location in the Tower and its grounds, the appropriate digital file is triggered on their iPAQ devices. This allows players to meet historical prisoners in the Tower, such as Guy Fawkes and Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII’s wives. Even the Tower’s Yeomen Warders, nicknamed Beefeaters, become part of the game as players try to help historical figures escape.

For HP, the interest in exploring this area of mobility is to understand the opportunities for new products and services that will emerge around the delivery of location and other context-based experiences.

The pilot was tested by members of Historic Royal Palaces and HP between 23 and 28 October. Some of the historical characters will try to persuade the players to help them escape using the same methods as the character actually used: finding ropes, bribing guards, smuggling letters and, of course, avoiding the patrolling Beefeaters. Succeed in avoiding the guards and the prisoner escapes; fail and the player will be locked up in the Tower – virtually at least.