On 5-6 November 2018, I was invited to contribute to the EMOTIVE User Workshop in Athens, Greece. The two-day event drew together a multidisciplinary group of museum and heritage experts to work with the partners on the EMOTIVE project.
EMOTIVE is an H2020 EU-funded research project which has sought to research, design, develop and evaluate methods and tools that: ‘support the cultural and creative industries in creating narratives and experiences which draw on the power of “emotive storytelling”’. This focus on connection and narrative privileges human stories and experience and embeds them within specific historical and cultural contexts.
As part of a diverse group of professionals in the field, I got to test a number of EMOTIVE projects and feedback on their design and methods for evaluating their emotional resonance. More info on the project can be found on the EMOTIVE website.
My favourites were the experiences created for the UNESCO Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük which included a VR experience and a chatbot. The VR experience revealed relatable and thoughtfully composed social practices at Çatalhöyük, artistic expression and burial customs.
The Chatbot of Conviction is EMOTIVE’s experiment in communicating with heritage audiences via a virtual persona. It prods and probes at social norms and reframes contemporary practice through discussions of life at Çatalhöyük. This dialogue aims to be challenging but reflective and it achieves this in spades.
It was an intense and stimulating two days, packed with testing experiences, focus groups, evaluation exercises and discussions. Thank you to the EMOTIVE team for the invite!
Jess Hoare 