Virtual Reality Application for Fostering Interest in Art

Area of Science:

• Art History
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Museum Studies

Background:

• Declining visitor numbers in cultural institutions, particularly among young people, pose a challenge.
• Innovative approaches are needed to re-engage audiences with art and cultural heritage.
• Virtual reality (VR) technology offers potential for deeper user-art interaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce ImmersArt, a virtual reality experience designed to immerse users within artworks and artists' creative worlds.
• To empirically evaluate the motivational impact of ImmersArt compared to traditional art engagement methods.
• To assess VR's effectiveness in enhancing young people's motivation to study art.

Main Methods:

• Development of an elaborated virtual reality experience, ImmersArt.
• Empirical analysis of user motivation comparing VR with illustrated books and audiovisual presentations.
• Study focused on the engagement of young participants.

Main Results:

• The ImmersArt VR experience was developed to provide deep immersion into art.
• User motivation was measured and compared across different art-access formats.
• Young participants showed significantly higher motivation when using the VR tool.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality technology, exemplified by ImmersArt, can effectively increase user motivation in art exploration.
• Immersive VR experiences show promise in combating declining museum and cultural institution attendance.
• VR offers a powerful new medium for art education and engagement, especially for younger demographics.