which they received the instructions
for the final painting. They all stood
in front of Francis Bacon’s Figure in
a Landscape painting with a plinth in
front of them that held four chocolate
pralines. Visitors were instructed
through headphones to pick up a
piece of chocolate and eat it while
experiencing the synchronized scent
and sound stimuli.
LESSONS AND BENEFIT
FOR HCI RESEARCH
Tate Sensorium was open to the public
between August 25 and October 4,
2015. Within this timeframe, 4,000
visitors experienced the selected art
pieces in a new and innovative way. We
collected feedback from 2,500 visitors
through questionnaires and conducted
50 interviews to capture the subjective
experiences of gallery visitors.
Around 87 percent of visitors rated
the experience as very interesting
(at least 4 on a 5-point Likert scale),
and around 85 percent expressed an
interest in returning to the art gallery
for such multisensory experiences (see
details on the findings in [ 6]).
Here, we reflect on our experience
in the Tate Sensorium project. The
degree of success of the venture
depends on who you ask. From the
point of view of the gallery, the
results of Tate Sensorium exceeded
initial expectations. The originally
planned one-month exhibition period
was extended for two additional
weeks given the vast interest from
the public. From the creative team’s
point of view, it was also a success
despite minor technical challenges
in integrating the different sensory
stimuli and coordinating a very
diverse project team.
From an HCI research point of
view, this project provided us with
a unique opportunity to test and
deploy an emerging technology in
a real-world context. Additionally,
it allowed us to explore novel
tactile experiences, new tools, and
T
After the introduction, visitors
removed their headphones and
continued walking to the room
marked 2 in Figure 2. There, they
experienced Interior II by Richard
Hamilton. Visitors were instructed
(through the speakers in the room) to
experience the painting as naturally as
possible and to move around the space
to explore the three different scents.
After that, staffers asked the visitors
to separate into pairs (Pair 1 and Pair
2) and continue to the next painting
(either 3a or 3b in Figure 2).
Pair 1 went to the room marked
3a in Figure 2 and viewed Full Stop
by John Latham. Following the audio
guidance, one of them placed her hand
into the empty space in the plinth to
experience the mid-air haptic feedback
integrated and synchronized with the
sound, while the other visitor listened
only to the sound while viewing the
painting. The complete synchronized
sound-haptic experience lasted for
one minute, and then visitors were
instructed through the headphones
to swap positions so that the second
person could experience the complete
sound-haptic integration.
Pair 2 went to the room marked
3b in Figure 2 and experienced David
Bomberg’s In the Hold together with
the synchronized sound and scent
stimuli. Visitors were instructed to
walk around and pick up one of the two
3D-printed scent objects to enjoy the
combined sound-scent composition.
Then they changed positions and
enjoyed each object and its distinct
scent aligned with the specific auditory
stimuli (as described above).
After Pair 1 finished experiencing
room 3a and Pair 2 went through
room 3b, they switched. Pair 1 moved
on to room 3b and Pair 2 moved
to room 3a, following the same
procedure as described here for each
of the two paintings.
All four visitors then moved to the
final room, marked 4 in Figure 2. Each
of them put on the headphones, from
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We believe that Tate Sensorium
is just the beginning of a new form
of multisensory experience
in art galleries and museums.