The Financial Life Park (FLiP) at the CoSA – Center of Science Activities in the Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz invites visitors to explore the world of finance in a playful and interactive way.
The project was developed in collaboration between FH JOANNEUM and the FRida & freD Children’s Museum. Since 2003, FH JOANNEUM has been creating interactive museum installations for FRida & freD – with FLiP Graz, an innovative exhibition concept on financial literacy was realized.
Five Central Stations
At the heart of the exhibition are five interactive main stations, available in both German and English. Each station is equipped with an RFID system, allowing visitors to use their personal FLiP Bank Card. This card stores gameplay progress and choices anonymously, which can later be viewed at the end of the exhibition or online via a QR code.
- Value Tour & Tag Cloud
In a 3D world, visitors use gaze control to select and collect different values. Their choices are saved to their RFID card and displayed as a personal tag cloud within the exhibition. - Credit Cycle
By pedaling a handbike, visitors experience an interactive story about taking out a loan. They can choose between different credit types, while an AI simulation visualizes the character’s aging process over time. - Budget Scale
Visitors can manage a virtual household budget via touchscreen. Spending and investments are displayed on two round “scale” displays, allowing them to weigh their decisions and record them on their RFID card. - Financial Consultation
A virtual bank advisor communicates with visitors using speech recognition. Through simple yes/no choices, they navigate the conversation and make financial decisions that are saved at the end of the experience. - Cargo Voyage
Visitors steer a virtual container ship and learn about global trade routes, logistics, and the role of shipping in international commerce.
Each of these main stations is installed multiple times in the exhibition, ensuring that many visitors can participate simultaneously.
Quiz Stations and Group Evaluation
In addition to the main installations, the exhibition features several side stations and quiz stations.
As visitors explore each room, they collect information that helps them earn points at the quiz stations.
Questions are drawn dynamically and at random from a question pool, so every visitor encounters a unique set of challenges.
The exhibition can be experienced individually or as a group. Group visits include a shared evaluation that combines all points and decisions. Both individual and group results can be accessed online via QR code after the visit.
Technical Implementation
All FLiP installations are managed via the XCocos museum management system, which was specially extended by FH JOANNEUM for use in FLiP.
In addition to handling communication between the individual stations and the central server, the system now also supports the display of visitor information and evaluation results. This enables real-time visualization of individual and group outcomes within the exhibition.
The entire computer and network infrastructure was also configured and fully integrated into the XCocos system of the Universalmuseum, ensuring stable operation and centralized management.