Interactive Digital Engagement With Visual Artworks and Cultural Artefacts Enhances User Aesthetic Experiences in the Laboratory and Museum

Digital technologies reshape the way we interact with our environment, including with artworks. Advanced computational imaging solutions allow having extremely high-resolution digital reproductions of artworks outside museums, presumably increasing artwork engagement. We tested whether exploring such reproductions via an interactive interface heightened aesthetic appreciation and enhanced recognition. With this interface, observers can move, turn, zoom, and relight the digital reproductions (http://artmyn.com/; https://osf.io/3srfw/). In Study 1, 82 participants explored paintings in the laboratory. In Study 2, 63 participants explored precious cultural artefacts in the museum. In both studies, participants’ aesthetic appreciation (interest, pleasure, intensity, subjective learning) was higher towards artworks they had explored interactively as compared to non-interactively or as physical objects, highlighting the advantage of the tested technology. However, we found no evidence that interactive exploration improved artwork recognition. More studies are needed to learn when and why digital interaction is beneficial above and beyond subjective aesthetic evaluations.