The Sensorial Dimension of the Contemporary Museum between Design and Emerging Technologies

Abstract

Nowadays, society passes through a moment of transition, in which technological progress has offered the possibility, as well as the challenge, of gathering and transmitting an infinity of information in such short time. In this context, the museum transforms, it becomes a sensitive organism that modifies the visitor-artwork relationship, introducing new models of interaction and fruition. Design in line with digital technologies play a determinative role in this transformation, generating new languages and experimentations that multiply the levels of artwork narration, introducing new temporal dimensions and exhibition paradigms. Despite the considerable progress accomplished in recent years both by research and industry in the fields of acquisition techniques, digitalization, computer graphics, visualization, most of the applications for the communication of cultural heritage on site and on line still have many limitations concerning their ability of engaging the users. They often lack narrative metaphors, sensorial and emotional involvement, while interaction interfaces may appear hostile for a considerable part of the visitors. Starting from the most appropriate learning style to the characteristics regarding the user’s identity, he has the necessity to enter a space, be it real or virtual, able to stimulate him towards future insights and knowledge acquisition. Storytelling and perception come into play in order to build experience, which needs to engage the visitor emotionally, but it must also be capable of not subtracting him to the real visit. It has to offer valid hints, but it must not become a substitute of reality, while technologies must not transform into barriers, but into an opening towards a future accessible to all. With the forthcoming objective of understanding how to overcome limitations and build enhanced fruition and adaptive, personalised interaction models where the visitor stays at the centre of the design scene, this paper analyses the current transformations, providing a general view of national and international experiences that use the technological potential in an innovative way, defining best practices in the field. The connections between user and technology related to space and time will be highlighted, as well as the storytelling methods and the interactive, engaging and sensorial visitor - museum experiences.

A Comprehensive Study of Emotional Responses in AI-Enhanced Interactive Installation Art

“…The presence of other people in the physical environment of interactive installation art can also affect the audience's emotional experience [18]. The emotion of interactive installation art is influenced by the design of the installation and the sensory experience it provides [18,20,21], and mostly depends on the design of the installation, the presentation of the environment, and the characteristics of the relevant actors [22]. For example, the "Rain Room" installation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City allows visitors to walk in heavy rain without getting wet.…”