Art - Distance Sharing: A Virtual 3D paradigm for the study of the influence of co-presence through avatars on the emotional perception of fine arts

How to design new forms of on line behavioural and emotional interactions in digital spaces, shared virtual environments? What are the perceptual, behavioural and cognitive processes involved when actions, emotions or information are shared between several co-present users? What are the aesthetic and sociological implications of these new forms of spatial mediations? What is the influence of spatial location and emotional valence of pictures on the capacity to memorize the pictures? For this study of perceptual and cognitive processes involved when sharing and memorizing emotions online in digital spaces" we have brought together a multidisciplinary team of researchers in Art and New Media, Cognitive Sciences and Psychiatry. Our goal is to assess the relevance and limitations of new forms of mediation in online-shared spaces (also commonly referred to as "virtual worlds"). This paper presents a preliminary account of the paradigm. Here we focus on the influence of co-presence on the emotional perception of fine arts in a digital environment. This experience was developed by the "Spatial Media" group of EnsadLab in partnership with the Collège de France, supported and funded by PSL* Research University.