INOM TEKNIKOMRÅDET EXAMENSARBETE
MEDIETEKNIK
OCH HUVUDOMRÅDET
DATALOGI OCH DATATEKNIK, AVANCERAD NIVÅ, 30 HP STOCKHOLM SVERIGE 2020,
Trust the Artist and the Painting:
Factors that can Enhance the Experience of Viewing Art in 3D Environments
SABINA VON ESSEN
KTH
Abstract
Buying and viewing art has gone from being a traditionally physical experience to
becoming digital. Due to limitations in today's two-dimensional e-commerce websites,
3D technology can be used to simulate the physical experience as much as possible. This
thesis studies which factors can potentially play an important role in online art purchases,
of which trust on the artist, familiarity to the artist and understanding more in depth the
painting techniques were found to be the most influential on enhancing the viewers
experience and engagement with a painting viewed online. These factors were later
implemented in a 3D exhibition. Interaction, video, light, spatial perception and interior
design contributed to a more holistic experience of art in a 3D environment. A conceptual
model is then proposed to offer users as realistic and applied experience as possible that
can also contribute to a greater willingness to buy art online.
Sammanfattning
Att köpa och uppleva på konst har gått från att vara en traditionellt fysisk upplevelse till att bli en digital. På grund av begränsningar i dagens tvådimensionella
e-handelswebbplatser kan 3D-teknik användas för att simulera den fysiska upplevelsen så mycket som möjligt. Den här avhandlingen studerar vilka faktorer som potentiellt kan spela en viktig roll i onlineköp av konst, varav tillit till konstnären, kännedom om konstnären och en djupare förståelse av målartekniken visade sig vara de mest
inflytelserika för att förbättra deltagarnas upplevelse och engagemang av konst som visas online. Dessa faktorer implementerades senare i en 3D-utställning. Resultaten visade att interaktion, video, ljus, rumslig uppfattning och interiördesign bidrog till en
helhetsupplevelse av konst i en 3D-miljö. En konceptuell modell föreslås sedan för att erbjuda användare en så realistisk och tillämpad upplevelse som möjligt som också kan bidra till en större vilja att köpa konst online.
Trust the Artist and the Painting: Factors that can Enhance the Experience of Viewing Art in 3D Environments
Sabina von Essen Department Name Royal Institute of Technology
Stockholm, Sweden sabinave@kth.se
ABSTRACT
Buying and viewing art has gone from being a traditionally physical experience to becoming digital. Due to limitations in today's two-dimensional e-commerce websites, 3D technology can be used to simulate the physical experience as much as possible. This thesis studies which factors can potentially play an important role in online art purchases, of which trust on the artist, familiarity to the artist and understanding more in depth the painting techniques were found to be the most influential on enhancing the viewers experience and engagement with a painting viewed online.
These factors were later implemented in a 3D exhibition.
Interaction, video, light, spatial perception and interior design contributed to a more holistic experience of art in a 3D environment. A conceptual model is then proposed to offer users as realistic and applied experience as possible that can also contribute to a greater willingness to buy art online.
KEYWORDS
Art, 3D exhibition, virtual galleries, virtual environments, research through design, interaction, navigation, online, e-commerce, texture, video
1 INTRODUCTION
The increase of information and communication technologies (ICT) has contributed to great technological, economic and socio-cultural change of today’s society [1].
ICT is permeating modern lifestyles by contributing to the digital economy with an acceleration production, distribution and consumption of both services and materials [2]. New technologies have affected all areas of
today and art is no exception. ICT has contributed to higher accelerated consumption in art markets, as internet technologies promote both local and global sales [1].
However, current 2D e-commerce websites on the Internet provide limited information about the available artworks due to simple interfaces based on photos and texts [16].
This is because of the lack of real shopping experience, where one of the most pre-eminent one is lack of feeling present [17], but also interactivity [24] and ineffectiveness of trust information [25]. In order to increase the experience among users, 3D technologies have developed a lot during the last years. In areas such as museums, architecture, virtual cities, virtual communities as well as e-commerce and product visualisation, 3D-technologies have been applied [20]. Similar to a physical shopping experience, an experience in a digital 3D e-commerce provides users a simulation of a real store since it allows users to navigate and experience shopping capabilities of their own [21]. Within the area of art exhibitions, it is said that allowing free navigation inside of the exhibition space is necessary in order to achieve a more intense sense of the immersion [26,27]. In this way the artworks can be seen from different angles and the users can get a better idea of their dimensions [19]. By offering the hedonic shopping experience among users, 3D technology could provide the future exploration of new technological applications in e-commerce.
There is a lot that has been done on 3D galleries but this thesis goes deeper into studying some of the factors that can potentially affect the user experience when viewing art online. With the purpose of making exhibitions still relevant nowadays for customers, galleries, and artists, this
thesis has explored the possibilities of a digital 3D exhibition by identifying significant factors when it comes to deeper engagement and increased experience.
Furthermore, this essay proposes a series of suggestions on how this platform can be improved which could also lead to increased willingness to buy art online.
2 BACKGROUND
To explore the possibilities with deeper engagement of art online in 3D, I will contextualise my research in both challenges and opportunities of 3D environments and present related work on digital galleries, spatial experience, and guidelines when constructing 3D environments.
Digital Galleries and HCI
Online galleries are becoming increasingly prevalent in the home environment since physical galleries want to enlarge their clientele. Some of them have even switched to being completely digital, i.e. without physical premises, which in turn reduces the costs for the gallery owners. The rapidly growing trend makes this area especially interesting from the perspective of Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
Findings from Andreas Muller and his colleagues [10], suggest the physical presence of an exhibited artwork has just a secondary significance for the buying process and that the visualization of art is the most important aspect.
When compared to the purchase of other objects such as instruments, perfumes or cars, Muller believes that art does not have the same need to be seen in reality. On the other hand, when conveying artworks online, it is not always enough to view a picture of a painting in order to get a full understanding of the artwork. A study showed that only the visual quality of an image and text information provided through the Internet are not satisfactory when presenting art which has potentially to do with the lack of feeling presence[11]. Furthermore the study stressed the importance of recognizing viewers as individuals with their own personalities and with unique conditions of life.
Positive aspects of 3D environments
The more free the viewer is to explore the artwork digitally, the more effective the viewer can control his or her imagination about experiencing the artwork. Allowing free navigation inside the exhibition space is therefore necessary [19]. A previous VR project that let users explore
art in an immersive way was the award winning “Claude Monet- The Water Lily obsession” [20]. The users got to explore the Monet garden, the Monet atelier and the famous water lilies which contributes to a more familiar and enhanced experience. Another important factor when presenting art online is the “cultural setting” as it forms an important part of the display [5]. Making the artwork being seen side by side in a 3D environment, possible to get an idea of their dimensions [19]. When we get a deeper understanding of the painting's real colours, the texture and the size, we get a clearer overall understanding of the artwork and if it speaks to us or not. Jin-Kyeong Oh at Ewha Womans University in Korea describes this event of feeling attached by a painting by: “A close circumstantial relationship that can be established between the viewer and the art objects on the basis of the spectator's recognition” . According to previous research, a 3D environment visualized from a screen enables this cultural setting and also it has been agreed that 3D technologies improve representation displays [6].
Challenges with 3D environments
Even though there are many advantages using 3D environments when exhibiting art, there are also many issues associated with them. Visitors to digital galleries are often beginners and not used to 3D-worlds. Due to this, there are many problems associated with beginners in using 3D environments and the most prominent one is to navigate through 3D worlds [18]. Many studies have also shown that interaction and networking latency is problematic when it comes to 3D environments and in order to improve them,
“physical” landmarks have been used [7].
Guidelines 3D Gallery
Design guidelines on 3D environments have been researched extensively during the last decades. Badre et al.
[8] suggest that by making the site visit experience spatial richer, with other words by making the visual inputs more like the real world, it will become more like a real experience. For this to happen it seems like a high level of interaction between the user and the environment is necessary for a virtual gallery [9, 19] for instance interacting spontaneously and instinctively with an art object. Due to the missing physical presence, it is a challenge to make a digital experience as realistic as possible, but there are some basic requirements that make
the experience better. Studies have shown the importance of having a zoom function available for large paintings [10]. This with the purpose to make details visible which otherwise might be lost. For example, an artwork with many layers of paint that form a lot of structure, can be difficult to reproduce in the picture. Supplementing with zoomed-in pictures of details of a painting can therefore contribute to a better perception of the work. Another important factor that has been cited is the visual cues, such as familiar colours or objects in order to enhance the level of coherency in a 3D environment [12]. Finally, it is important to treat users as intelligent individuals and that they feel like they are capable of using the prototype as naturally as possible.
3D and e-commerce
When it comes to what significant factors that influence consumers’ willingness to buy online, there have been many studies made on the subject. According to a study made at Tongji University the perceived reputation, perceived risk and ease of use are positively associated with the level of consumer’ willingness to purchase online [13].
Today, there are several limitations with current e-commerce sites and today's competitive e-commerce environment. Studies have shown that the companies that use VR technologies manage to improve customer interactivity and this by realizing the shopping experience that is similar to the real-life experiences [21]. Findings from Mahgoub Sidding and his colleagues showed several areas that need to be considered when developing an e-commerce application in 3D which were; comprising of design, trust, AR technology, marketing, product presentation, business practices, interface quality, shopping experience, behaviour and consumer learning [16].
Complementary to previous research in this domain, this master thesis focuses on identifying what factors that can influence the visitor's experience, and thus could potentially increase the willingness of buying art online.
3 RESEARCH PROCESS AND METHODS
I am an artist myself and I have some experience with selling my paintings both in physical and digital galleries (since 2018). I have been an active part of my own work through the creation, marketing and sales of the art. The
way I approached my research has elements of autobiographical design [3], since the area has to do with my own practice. As previously mentioned, when developing a design you should use your own experiences, your own needs and your own desires when using an autobiographical method [28]. The research is based on my own personal experience, of how I have seen customers engage with the paintings both physically and digitally. In this way I am also aware of most common issues with e-commerce of art and that customers usually want to see as much as possible of the painting. In summary, I took on all roles since I was a designer, researcher and user.
I have also used Research through Design (RtD) [4] since
a major part of my work was to design and develop a tool for a 3D exhibition prototype that was later used in the tests. By generating new knowledge by understanding the current stages of people's mindset and experiences I proposed suggestions on how to improve the experiences of future 3D online exhibitions. Typical of RtD is also to define and redefine problems as they arise in the process [15], which is something that was performed continuously.
In order to evaluate the 3D prototype in the most valuable way possible, a qualitative method was chosen. Through oral interviews with open questions, I gained a deep understanding of the participants' experiences.
Subsequently, the results were prioritized, organized and analyzed which are some elements of qualitative methods [22]. With the purpose of bringing something new to the table, I looked on other ideas and themes that emerged from the results. During the analysis I looked at the data in terms of how they related to the questions in terms of future research considerations and watched for the unexpected.
4 PRE STUDY: QUESTIONNAIRE
The pre study was conducted in order to explore what factors contribute to customers willingness to buy art online. A questionnaire was sent out to previous customers in order to identify these factors.
Hypothesis
There are probably many factors that matter when a customer decides to purchase an artwork online. Basic variables such as high quality photographs, videos, interior design, colours, and motives probably have a great impact.
But I also think there exist some factors that can be harder
to evaluate such as recommendations, storytelling and hypes/trends.
Participants
I recruited 8 participants consisting of three females and five malesfrom ages 25 to 60. What they had in common was that they had all bought art online from my website within a time interval of six months. When they bought art, the art was presented on the website as follows: a painting was presented in a cultural setting [6] with other words in an interior environment (Figure 1), a painting was presented with a close-up picture of the entire painting (Figure 1 ) and a painting was presented with zoomed in pictures on the details/texture of the painting (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Three images from
the website presenting the painting “Ljusterö”. The image to the left presents the painting in an interior environment and the other two present zoomed in views.
A majority of the participants were from Sweden and the
others were from Finland and Netherlands. These participants were chosen in order to gain a deeper understanding of what factors that contributed to their purchase of art online. Worth to mention was that none of them had seen any of the artworks in reality earlier, i.e. at an exhibition, since this could have affected the results. In order to gain more knowledge about people's willingness to buy art online I saw an advantage to understand early adopters' mindset.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire that was sent out to previous customers, consisted of 8 questions about shopping online which can be seen in the Appendix. The questions were given out in both swedish and english in order to give the participants full potential to answer. The questionnaire began with
questions to grasp overall knowledge about the online purchase practices of the participants. The three last questions addressed what factors influenced their decision to purchase the art: “What was/were the factor/factors that influenced your understanding of the artwork?”, “What factor/factors contributed to the decision to actually buy the artwork?” and “What could have made the online experience better?”.
All of the participants used to shop more than once a month except P7 who shopped more than once a year (see Figure 1 in Appendix). However, most of them (6 out of 8) had only bought art online once (see Figure 2 in Appendix). The other two participants had made an online purchase of art three to five times. The participants were thereafter asked to think about last time they bought art online. The purpose was to make them re-imagine what factors that contributed to both the perceivement of the artwork online and what factors that contributed to the actual decision to make a purchase. In order to avoid confusion I used the term “understanding” of an artwork instead of perceiving the artwork, since the later one is often used in scientific contexts.
The eight participants had many similar answers when it came to what factors that influenced their perception of the artwork that they were to buy. All participants said that the photographs and the motive was important when it came to get a full understanding of the artwork. P2 mentioned that the environmental photographs were very important in order to better perceive the artwork. Also P2 stressed the importance of the security and trust, since it often involves large amounts of money. P4 thought that the perception of size was important, but more important was the experience of the artwork when looking at it. P5 thought that it was good to see photographs of the painting with and without frame and enjoyed seeing the painting in an environment.
Also P5 stressed that the most important thing was to see the painting in different lights since it can differ a lot. P8 stated the importance of the visualization of the painting together with the environment.
When it came to what factors contributed to the participants’ actual purchase, the factors were slightly different from the factors that influenced the participants’
perception. P2 mentioned the importance of the motive but
also the importance of colours. P4 and P5 both stressed the importance of the painting technique in relation to the willingness to buy art and P6 thought the personal contact, inform of getting in touch with the artist, was very important. However P7 pointed out that it’s not only a single factor that matters when it comes to purchasing art online. “Buying an artwork takes usually a longer period for consideration, there is not only one single factor that would matter” (P7). When asked about what could have made the online experience better the participants’ did not have many suggestions. P2 thought the fast response was good and P4 thought that it was not anything that was missing. The only suggestion of improvement was P6’s suggestion which was to add 360 Photographs and Videos to the online platform. Furthermore, it is not always the best practice to ask actual buyers this type of question since they made a positive decision about purchasing the art through the website. Since the purpose of the questionnaire was to identify the factors that played a crucial role in purchasing, to in turn implement this further in a 3D prototype, not so much emphasis was placed on these answers.
5 QUESTIONNAIRE FINDINGS: FACTORS TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE
In summary, a number of different factors among buyers influenced the decision to buy a painting online. Factors such as photographs, environment and motifs seemed to be quite obvious when it came to buy art online among the participants. Something that stood out a, was risk aversion in the form of trust in the artist. The fact that the customers had experienced rapid feedback and a personal contact with the seller enabled a safer purchase. According to previous research [13], perceived reputation and risk are some of the significant factors that play an important role when it comes to the desire to buy online. Therefore, "contact with the artist" was chosen as a factor to further investigate.
Furthermore, light was chosen as another factor to investigate. This is because the light can have a great influence on the painting's motif, structure and perceived color depending on the time of day. These two factors,
"personal contact" and "light" are also two factors that can often be experienced at a physical exhibition and were therefore chosen in order to create an augmented experience in the 3D gallery.
6 DESIGNING A 3D EXHIBITION
Next step in the research process was to develop a 3D prototype aiming to test the main parameters identified in the pre study. Together with the technology company Objekt360, we 3D-scanned an earlier used physical exhibition with 12 artworks, and laid the foundation for the prototype. By using this 360 degree photography exhibition as a basis, new features could be applied with the aim of making the experience of the digital exhibition as real as possible. The reason for not using VR was because people do not tend to have VR equipment at home and the purpose was to create a commercial platform.
Previous customers have earlier mentioned that they appreciate good quality photos, but also videos of the artworks in order to get a better understanding of the virtual artwork. This knowledge together with the findings from the pre study made it possible to proceed to designing the actual visual 3D gallery. During this process I have tried different materials and interaction alternatives and chose to use Matterport [14], which is a three-dimensional camera system you can use to create realistic, fully immersive experiences. In order to 3D scan the physical gallery space including the hanging paintings, the following equipment was used a) a t ripod- was used to set the camera at eye-level (160cm), b) a q uick release clamp - was used to mount the camera to the tripod, c) a s upported iOS device (iPhone or iPad) - was used in order to see the scanning process, and d) matterport Capture app was used - the program to further develop the prototype.
After the 3D scanning, I had the 3 dimensional exhibition on a link, where you could navigate around in the 3D space. This was what I needed to further develop the prototype. From the pre study almost all of the participants mentioned that important factors were photographs, environment and motifs. With this in mind I implemented pictures of the paintings both in the environment where the painting was originally painted but also zoomed in pictures of the painting. I chose to zoom in on the texture of the painting since I wanted to capture the thickness as much as possible. All this was added in the green buttons (Figure 2).
Figure 2: The exhibition with green buttons. When hovering or clicking over the button the user gets additional photos, i.e.
zoomed in pictures of the painting
The pictures were implemented by linking the 3D-prototype to Instagram since the pictures needed to exist online (Figure 3).
Figure 3: The editing view of the Matterport program.
Furthermore I implemented basic information about the painting such as title, size and price. A “Shop now”- button was added to better visualize the opportunity to actually buy a painting.
7 TESTING TWO PARAMETERS THROUGH QUALITATIVE METHODS
Based on the findings from the pre study I moved onto the next study. The main purpose was to investigate the impact of the two parameters which were tested through adding a video (first parameter), and through adding two photos (second parameter). The video consisted of a short presentation (one minute) of the painting where the artist talked about the story behind the painting and showed some specific details on the painting. The two photos demonstrated the painting in daylight and nightlight. The photo taken during the night gave a more red light due to incandescent light bulbs. (Figure 4 ). The questions in mind were:How much do the factors contribute to and influence the perception of the painting and the connection to the artist? To what extent do they enhance the shopping experience?
A small number of participants (5 for each parameter) was
picked for this study since it was more important to get rich qualitative data from few participants instead of gathering quantitative data from many participants. Therefore I saw value in collecting qualitative data with deeper engagement and emerged experience. The most important was to deeply engage with each individual and be able to ask further questions. The first experiment “Experiment 1”
investigatedpersonal contact in the form of a video, which was added to the prototype (Figure 4). The video which was hosted by YouTube, featured the artist and one of her large works outdoors. During one minute the artist told the story behind the painting and showed particular details of it. By describing the texture of the painting and touching it, she wanted to highlight what she thought was unique with the painting. “Experiment 2” instead of a video, investigatedlight in the form of two pictures (Figure 4) that demonstrated daylight and nightlight. These two were chosen to better simulate how a painting looks at different times of the day and were implemented through Instagram.
Figure 4: Image to the left demonstrates the prototype with video and the other two images demonstrate the prototype with daylight and nightlight.
Qualitative Study
A qualitative study was held with the purpose to study these factors in more detail and see to what extent and how they influence the viewer's experience and perception of the virtual painting. Before entering the 3D-gallery the participants answered a questionnaire about previous shopping experience and 3D experience (see questions in Appendix). In order to document the test of the 3D gallery for each test person as good as possible, a protocol was used as a tool for the interviewer and the interviewee. The interviewee was given the task of walking around and getting acquainted with the room and also to focus on one
particular painting. After 2 minutes the interviewer added the button with the video or the light on the specific painting and the interviewee was asked to go to the painting and hover/click on the button. After the video or the light was presented, the visit in the 3D gallery was completed and the interviewee got to answer questions about the experience.
Pilot study
In order to make sure the test was correctly structured a pilot study was conducted with one participant. The participant expressed difficulties with corner navigation, which is consistent with previous research showing that users often have difficulty navigating in 3D worlds.
Something that the participant also expressed dissatisfaction with was too few options on the question about how often they usually shop online. Changes were made from this first pilot study by re-constructing some questions for instance adding more options.
Participants
I recruited 10 participants (see Figure 1 in Appendix) four males and six females from ages 20-60 with Swedish nationalities. The participants had either no experience at all with 3D worlds (360 degree-photographing/VR) or had tried it out a couple of times before. All participants entered the 3D-gallery via their computers. Most of the participants shopped online on a regular basis, and it was only one participant who had never shopped online. When shopping online the majority of the participants shopped through their computer (6 out of 10) and only two participants had bought art online before.
Findings
By analyzing the data and looking for common themes on the answers I found interesting results. The results of the 3D-gallery visit showed that all participants thought the overall experience was positive and impressive. The participants described their experiences as inviting, exciting as well as real and what was most noticed was being able to walk freely in the 3D gallery and see the art from different angles. However, half of the participants experienced shortcomings in the navigation. Above all, being able to navigate around corners was often expressed.
Comparing with a physical gallery
The results showed that the participants’ experience was
calm and quiet, i.e. that you did not need to stress, compared to a physical gallery. Being able to take it in your own pace was something several participants emphasized, but also the feeling of luxury to be alone in the gallery. A different angle presented by one of the participants was that in a physical gallery it can be difficult to see all the paintings as people tend to be in the way. "If you are looking for a particular patinging you will get a better overview in this 3D-Gallery" (P1). Many of the participants appreciated the ability to zoom in and out on the paintings which enabled better view of details. This could be compared to a physical gallery where you could lean closer to a painting to view the details. The participants enjoyed the buttons on the side of each painting, where you could click to see more information about the paintings. Also the pictures of the paintings within an environment were appreciated by all participants, since they helped both to understand the size but also colours of a painting. Two of the participants (P1, P7) expressed the lack of festive atmosphere. On a physical exhibition, champagne, mood, conversations and music belong and that was something that this 3D exhibition did not contribute to. One of the participants (P7) suggested several innovative ideas to better achieve a festive feeling. “ If you could add music that could create a cooler feeling or a live chat so that you can have a dialogue with the artist, the exhibition mood would increase. Sending out champagne and snacks to the users before a digital exhibition would also be a good idea”. Furthermore, all participants expressed appreciation for not having to be physically present during pandemic times.
Video
The video was appreciated by all 5 participants who tested it and was said to add value to the experience. Some of the participants also expressed that the video was good for the reason that you may not always be able to talk to the artist at a physical exhibition as there are often many people who want the artist’s attention. According to P2, this exhibition could facilitate and create an improved experience for shy people who might not dare to talk to the artist at a physical exhibition. Another impression about the video was that it felt “luxurious” to have a private one-way conversation with the artist. “It felt luxurious to have a personal description from the artist.” -(P1). Also, the video featured the artist next to a painting, the video also gave a better understanding of the size of the painting since it was
compared to the artist's height, according to P6. Regarding the value of the video P9 stated that if you are interested in buying something, it can never be too much information.
“Then you just want more and more”. One of the participants (P2) expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that after the film's end, new YouTube suggestions emerged, which somewhat ruined the mood.
Light
Only one participant appreciated seeing the painting in different lights. Since P7 was familiar with interior design, the participant thought that this function was relevant for a potential purchase. In this way she thought it would be easier to understand how the painting would look in her home. The other participants did not appreciate the function at all and thought it was either unnecessary or confusing.
However, one of the participants said that this may be relevant to some and suggested that this need not be general information, but only for those who want to know more about the lighting. Furthermore, the participant suggested that this could be done in the form of a "discover more"
button. Furthermore, participants disagreed as to why they did not like the feature. Either the function was perceived as confusing, i.e. you did not understand what color the painting had, or it was not surprising that the color of the painting was changed by different light. A suggestion placed by P4 was that it is probably better to only show one light source and stick to that one.
Spatial perception
Something that was stated by most of the participants was the benefits with the spatial perception. Both color and size were more believable in 3D than in 2D. This is because the gallery itself from different angles allows reference points that create a better idea of size and color. For example, the sizes of the paintings could be compared with other common objects in the room, which gave a better understanding of the size. As a consequence, it is easier to imagine what the painting could look like at home. P8 and P9 emphasized that the gallery is similar to a regular apartment in appearance, which also creates a correspondence with their own home. “ If the exhibition had been at a museum, it would have been much harder to imagine what the art would look like at home” - P8 . The spatial perception did also contribute to a better understanding of the amount of color and texture and the
thickness of the frame. Participants tended to constantly compare with their previous 2D experiences and emphasized how this spatial perception was not obtainable in them. However one of the participants (P10) was not that pleased with the perception of the painting technique, and suggested enhancing the perception by adding detailed films that could zoom in on both the texture but also the golden frame. The fact that the paintings were hung and framed in a physical environment and not clipped in a computerized environment contributed to a genuine, honest and professional opinion among all the participants. “If you notice that someone has put in time and effort, it gives them confidence” - P5.
Willingness to buy
The study showed that 7 out of 10 would have bought a painting based on this 3D-exhibition, but only if it was with the right to withdraw the purchase. The right of withdrawal was considered by many of the participants to contribute to security and was also decisive for a potential purchase. An angle that P6 found was that the 3D experience covers many issues that you as a buyer have, when it comes to buying art and that even when you are in a physical gallery you can not decide what the painting will look like at home.
In a way, a physical gallery does not contribute to a better understanding of the painting at home, than when looking at a 3D exhibition. The other three participants wanted to see the works in reality before buying. P10 expressed “The 3D Gallery would be enough for me to go to the physical gallery. But it is not stranger than the fact that I would not buy a car unseen. I want to see it with my own eyes.”
However, most of the participants worried that the painting would not fit into their home together with the interior they had. P5 stated that the interior pictures of the painting would be absolutely crucial when it came to willingness to buy. One of the participants (P3) who had not bought a painting unseen, stated that it depends on how long you have followed the artist. "If someone who has been following the artist for a long time maybe will purchase the art online. But maybe not someone who is seeing the painting for the first time”. Something that was also brought up was the preparation before a digital 3D exhibition. According to P3, good preliminary work leads to a customer feeling more confidence and trust in the artist. Furthermore, if there is an accelerated concept, i.e.
the paintings are sold quickly, this can generate that you as a buyer become more risk-averse than you otherwise would have been. Regardless of the possible purchase or not, all participants agreed that the 3D gallery-experience had been a good complement to the purchase of paintings.
8 DISCUSSION
This master's thesis has explored the possibilities of a digital 3D exhibition by identifying significant factors when it comes to deeper engagement and increased experience of a virtual painting. Furthermore, this thesis proposes a series of suggestions on how this platform can be improved which could also lead to increased willingness to buy art online and to create an enhanced experience.
This paper presents one way that interaction with a 3D exhibition could enhance the experience when looking at art online. There are some aspects that are particularly interesting and these are the overall positive experiences that can be gained within the 3D exhibition which confirm what Muller [10] stated regarding that paintings do not need to be seen in reality in order to get a deep understanding of the artworks. In fact, the results additionally showed that some experiences can not even be experienced at a physical exhibition, but only on a digital one. Some of these experiences were calmness, i.e. you did not need to stress and could take it in your own pace. But also that the personal experience felt luxurious as almost like a private tour. The positive reactions could have something to do with the enhanced experience of feeling presence, which previous studies have shown that 2D environments do not provide [11].
The video parameter in the 3D exhibition was appreciated by all 5 participants and was perceived as personal and reliable which confirms the results from the pre study. As a future work it could be studied how adding a video to all paintings, could increase the experience of trust even more.
It also seemed like there was great interest to know more about the artist, to understand the work behind the painting and the technique. The fact that one of the participants mentioned that “ if you are interested in something, you just want more”(P9) shows the deep engagement that can happen through digital platforms which is similar to the Monet experience where users got to visit the Monet atelier in VR [20]. The results showed that the video gave a good complement to the 3D-exhibition experience, of which
otherwise could be perceived as quite empty. However, for the user who is primarily interested in viewing the paintings, details and more information are not disturbing in the prototype, while detailed information is easily accessible to the interested person. However, it would be of interest to know how the video alone seemed to meet the criteria set out in the pre study. Since the video had a strong impact on the participants and contributed to an immersive experience when it came to security, trust, size and light, the question that arises is whether the rest of the 3D exhibition is important for achieving an enhanced experience. Although the video meets those criterias, I would argue that the full 3D experience does further. When analysing what was most appreciated among the participants, being able to walk freely and look at the artworks from different angles are two of the most stated ones. This 3D elements points to the importance of the 3D experience and could have to do with the experience of feeling presence [11].
The light parameter on the other hand was not perceived in the same positive way but was instead perceived as confusing. There seems to be a fine line between giving customers enough information and giving too much.
Showing a painting in a different light can raise questions and confusions that were not there from the beginning and therefore one should be careful with the information they want to present. One suggestion, therefore, is not to serve all information at the same time, but to let the user find the right information by himself or herself. However, the issue of light was a niche from the survey and from the study, but it might also be about the implementation. There are other ways to investigate the same thing e.g. to show transitions such as sunset/sunrise, that might make more sense to users. For future work the light parameter might also benefit from being presented by videos.
Not surprisingly, but still interesting, was that all participants showed a great interest in being able to attend art exhibitions despite pandemic times. Since the virus has affected all business areas worldwide where art is no exception, this 3D solution of presenting art has great potential. According to an article in the Guardian, many galleries are likely to go out of business and artists will lose their livelihoods [23], which therefore indicates a demand for new technological business opportunities. The fact that physical presence is not required for participation also
