Project title
Description of initiative
VisualEars Rooms project explored the impact of a virtual activity involving vision and auditory stimuli on the mood of the audience. Eight musical pieces were selected, and 28 visual artists from around the world each visualized two musical pieces. 56 works of art were created and hung in eight 3D virtual rooms. Upon measuring the mood of the audience pre and post the exhibit, VisualEars Room showed an improvement of the mood of the visitors.
Further information on the initiative
Themes: Culture and...
Keywords
Target group
Cultural field
Timeframe
Sources of funding
Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
The VisualEars project explored whether a virtual activity involving vision and auditory stimuli could improve positive and negative affect. The organizers found that the virtual art exhibit increased positive affect and decreased negative affect in participants, suggesting an overall improvement in mood attributable to the virtual exhibit. This suggests that virtual exhibits may serve as a beneficial and accessible intervention to improve mood during a pandemic. A total of 160 participants completed baseline PANAS, 58 of which completed the follow-up PANAS.
This research supports the application of art (in this case, a virtual art exhibit based on music) on the mood and well-being of people. Given the dire situation of mental health globally, adverse side effects from medications, and the stigmatization of mental disorders, this study brings hope about the way immersive experiences such as those proposed by this study can serve as a potential alternative and highly affordable and accessible intervention for mood disturbances in the general population. In regard to the future opportunities, developing and expanding a dedicated smartphone and web application for this project can serve as a self-care tool for the majority of the general population, in particular adolescents and young people since significant improvement was observed in their age group.