Multidisciplinary Psychosomatic Assessment for UX Design Evaluation

“In the mirror of the Wonder of Luca Giordano” was a multi-sensorial experience created in the gallery frescoed by Luca Giordano in Palazzo Medici Riccardi, in Florence; the project involved different disciplines and researchers. The entire experience was subjected to an impact analysis, combining principally psychophysiological, qualitative psychological and neuro-physiological aspects. In most of the visitors who participated in the study the experience evoked a sense of pleasure, enjoyment, relaxation, lightness, spacetime suspension, involvement and immersion. In many of the visitors, the devices detected changes in heartbeat, with a statistically significant decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, demonstrating that the impact of artwork in a multi-sensorial experience and in an augmented perception environment is a psychosomatic impact. The psycho-physiological and psychological evaluations carried out for the “In the mirror of the Wonder of Luca Giordano” project allowed us to confirm the effectiveness of the design choices of the exhibition in amplifying the perception of art and in improving the relationship between art and the visitor. Moreover, our experience suggests that projects such as "In the mirror of the Wonder of Luca Giordano" could be very useful tools for cultivating aesthetic intelligence and could be developed in museums alongside more common tools and methods.