Examining the Flourishing Impacts of Repeated Visits to a Virtual Art Museum and the Role of Immersion

Abstract

Visiting art museums has been associated with a range of flourishing outcomes. However, there have been recent shifts towards increasing digital engagement with art, leading to a radical change in how people experience visual art. Given the now expansive virtual art viewing options, it is important to understand whether digital engagement can also lead to greater flourishing, and, if so, under what conditions. We examined the flourishing effects of viewing art in a virtual gallery in a pre-registered experiment comprising four sessions over four weeks, with varying viewing instructions designed to increase immersion. Participants were recruited from a USA representative sample on Prolific, resulting in a final sample of 687 participants. People were randomly assigned to one of nine experimental conditions. Eight art viewing conditions involved four 15 min virtual gallery visits with viewing instructions varying on two factors: slow-looking and immersive mindset framing. An active control condition involved reading about (but not viewing) art. Participants completed a battery of baseline flourishing measures in week 1, completed experimental art engagement sessions during weeks 1–4, and completed the battery again in week 5. While immersion levels were greater in the viewing conditions than the reading condition, growth in flourishing did not differ across condition. Exploratory analyses, however, showed that immersion during the gallery visits did predict some changes in specific facets of flourishing (e.g., engagement, meaning, autonomy satisfaction). We suggest a number of possible explanations for these null results and point to what is needed in future research.

Optimization Strategies for the Modular Resource Construction of Art Gallery’s Exhibition Halls Based on Kansei Engineering

“…In the process of calculating the weight values of the matrix, the consistency test of the matrix should be carried out to ensure the validity of the matrix results. The value of consistency ratio, as an important reference to measure the validity of the matrix, can be obtained by a series of calculations in formulas (11), (12) and (13). The maximum eigenvalue λ max is obtained by formula (11); the consistency index CI is calculated in formula (12).…”

“…Based on the development trend mentioned above, in the field of art gallery research in recent years, on the one hand, most of the goals are to improve the physiological function needs and mental health needs in daily life space, thus gradually expanding the museum space into a multi-functional complex covering education, commerce, medial treatment and leisure and entertainment [9], [10]. Moreover, it gradually forms a development trend of expanding from urban center to community space and even digital space [11], [12]. On the other hand, it aims to bridge design deviations and spatial conflicts, such as the needs of the public and even the needs of marginalized groups.…”

Digital Art and the Metaverse: Benefits and Challenges

“…. ' [11]. Further, other physical benefits were also identified by the survey participants when responding to question 14, with one participant stating that the technology 'will help people who do not have the physical ability to do a painting or a 3d object create art.…”

“…With this notion, Giannini et al discuss that the digital identity of the museum is evolving alongside human interactions on the Internet [10]. It must also be noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying lockdown experiences have acted as a catalyst for this evolution as many galleries and museums began to offer alternative virtual visitor experiences [11]. Still, beforehand, the technology was already particularly beneficial for virtual art galleries and cultural heritage applications.…”

“…It opens up a whole new creative world'; 'It could help creating NFTs and other forms of art that do not currently exist, helping to combine human imagination and inspiration with the precision of computer graphic design'; It could act as an inspiration, but it might replace the artwork of artists'; 'It will be another platform to show their art. And the good news is that it will let different kind of experiences to be created with AR'; 'It can allows artists to share their art to a larger population like people who are not generally attracted to go to the museum, or people who can't or don't have the time to move to an art gallery'; Producing outputs beyond storytelling and entertainment[11], such as education and disability support as the technology ' . .…”