The URJC leads research using AI that measures emotions in art.

Ana Reyes, professor at the FCEE, is the principal investigator of the pioneering project with biometric analysis techniques 'Emotions through art' in which the participants National Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza y Quironsalud.

Ramon Machuca

The study's objective is to classify 125 Thyssen artworks based on the emotions they generate in viewers. The results are applied in two ways: first, the museum has developed a website that allows users to navigate through emotions, becoming the first institution of its kind in the world to do so; and second, Quirónsalud will showcase the works that generate the most positive emotions in its hospitals to improve the quality of life of patients, medical staff, and their families.

For eight weeks, 127 people participated in this experiment in a controlled laboratory setting, combining traditional tools with neuroscience technologies such as biometric analysis and artificial intelligence. Using eye-tracking devices, facial expression analysis, and galvanic skin response, more than 12.700 metrics were collected, allowing the works to be classified based on the emotions they evoked.

Being a pioneering study, it posed a significant challenge. There was a possibility that the unconscious stimuli collected with biometric analysis devices and AI would not yield the expected results. For this reason, conscious stimuli were also collected using the Plutchik wheel, where participants in the experiment selected the emotions they believed they felt consciously, from a wheel displaying 32 emotions. Ultimately, however, it was not necessary to use this information because the biometric data allowed the objective to be met.

New avenues of knowledge

Through this study, the URJC researcher analyzes how humans react, both consciously and subconsciously, to different works of art. The initiative opens new avenues in the use of Artificial Intelligence and biometric analysis to detect the emotions that art evokes in people and their well-being.

Ana Reyes emphasizes that this study "has confirmed the research hypothesis, classifying works of art based on the emotions they unconsciously evoke."

It has been found that warm tones and balanced compositions tend to generate pleasant sensations, while intense contrasts of light and shadow provoke greater emotional activation. Works such as The Supper at Emmaus, by Matthias Stom, or The cheerful violinist with a glass of wine, by Gerard van Honthorst, served as examples of how different painting styles generate distinct emotions, from reflective contemplation to spontaneous joy.

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