The application developed as part of the thesis entitled ‘Augmented Reality-Supported Animated Scientific Illustration: The Case of Hacettepe University Biosphere Museum,’ prepared within the scope of the Master of Fine Arts Programme in Graphic Arts at Hacettepe University Institute of Fine Arts, brings an innovative approach to digital and interactive exhibition concepts in museums. This research and application contributes to exhibition methods in an interdisciplinary manner by combining scientific illustration with Augmented Reality (AR) technology. Supervised by Prof. Dr. Banu Bulduk Türkmen and conducted by Lecturer Fatma Güneş in 2026, the study is supported by Hacettepe University's Scientific Research and Project Unit under Project ID: 22239. The project aims to enrich scientific illustrations in biodiversity museums with two-dimensional animated graphics and augmented reality technology, offering visitors an interactive experience.
Regarding the application, Prof. Dr. Banu Bulduk Türkmen shared the following information: "The application was designed to be exhibited at the Biosphere Museum of the Hacettepe University Biological Diversity Research and Application Centre (HUBİOM). The study produced scientific illustrations of four animal species: the Anatolian leopard, brown bear, blue whale, and dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus Rex). Animal silhouettes placed on designated surfaces in the museum offer enriched content through scientific visualisations, incorporating their skeletal, muscular, and external morphological structures. This interdisciplinary project, realised through the collaboration of science and art, was transformed into augmented reality-supported, interactive content following approval processes by field experts. Visitors can instantly access the content by downloading the ‘AR BIOSPHERE’ application to their mobile devices and scanning the QR codes located at the museum entrance and exhibition areas. Thus, the experience becomes not just something to be observed, but an interactive journey to be discovered through voluntary and active participation.
Prof. Dr. Banu Bulduk Türkmen and Lecturer Fatma Güneş stated that the application, designed with a gamification-based concept specifically considering child visitors, transformed the museum experience into an enjoyable learning environment based on exploration. The researchers stated that the study showed that the combined use of augmented reality and animated scientific illustrations increased the comprehensibility and retention of the scientific information presented in the museum. They also emphasised that the project contributed to contemporary museology in terms of digital content production.
Visitors can explore the digital museum experience by downloading the ‘AR BİYOSFER’ application to their mobile devices running Android and iOS operating systems before visiting the Hacettepe University Biological Diversity Research and Application Centre (HUBİOM) Biosphere Museum.
