Augmenting Masterpieces

Augmenting Masterpieces is a collaboration of the University of Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum. Johanna Barnbeck, researcher for Augmenting Masterpieces, creates and tests interfaces for the physical and digital collection of the museum.

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To get more insights she researched the visitors of the museum. With the results of this research we developed and helped set up an app to create a new experience for the visitors.

Wat we hebben gedaan

Social dynamics in the museum

Instead of looking at the art, Johanna Barnbeck has been closely observing the visitors of the Rijksmuseum. Apparently many do not feel at ease when visiting a museum. Often because they feel like they lack the knowledge to look at art in a certain way and because they do not know how to form an opinion about art. This makes them very aware of their surroundings, without being able to communicate about it in such a silent environment.

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Communication through digital applications

Together we came up with the idea making art more accessible by creating an app that gives visitors the possibility to leave their own messages at a piece of art. This would create a social dialog without having to speak directly to the other visitors. Think of the way people place their reaction underneath a picture online, in the same way visitors would now be able to leave their comments and stories at a physical piece of art. 

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With the app the visitors can receive the stories, written or in audio, left at the piece of art they are standing in front of.

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Adding gamification to the art of the Rijksmuseum

To test different concepts with the use of an app and Beacons we also made a knowledge quiz. The visitors can battle each other and strive for the highest score. Once the app is within range of the Beacon the question about that specific artwork will pop up. After picking an answer the user will immediately be told whether the answer is right or wrong and how the other visitors scored with this question.