“How cool to interact with the artworks,” says Xander van den Hooven. He stands on the second floor of the Kunstsilo art museum and raises his index finger in the air. His movements are registered by camera sensors and transported onto an artwork displayed on the wall of the massive museum hall.
"We have created a system that tracks users' hand movements across a virtual canvas and transforms them into novel visual compositions based on public domain artworks in the Kunstsilo collection,” explains Vlad Licaret, Researcher at NORCE Research. Together with colleague Marius Leordeanu he is responsible for the installation.
New possibilities
Frida Syrstad is another guest who waves her finger through the air, like a musical conductor. This alters the image on the wall.
“Being able to interact in this manner increases my interest in art, which is the main reason why I’m here,” says Syrstad.
Head of Digital Outreach and Development at Kunstsilo, Torill Haugen, is delighted to see how the collaboration with NORCE Research has opened new possibilities for engaging the public.
Invites creativity
She explains that the museum wants to create experiences where visitors can engage with art not only with their eyes, but with their whole bodies. The sensor‑based technology developed by the NORCE team allows the audience to create their own imaged based on techniques and patterns from the collection, in a completely new way, while respecting the museum’s guidelines for digital rights and secure handling of the collection.
“Our guests always tell us they want to interact and leave a mark at the museum. With this technology, they can experience that. It invites creativity, and that is exactly what we want,” says Haugen.
