SENSE: Characterizing emotional response profiles elicited by a digital artwork based on musicalized impressionist paintings

What if looking at a painting could truly support mental health? This project explores a new way to respond to eco-anxiety by combining Impressionist art, plant-generated music, and immersive digital technology.

Drawing on two iconic nature-themed artworks — “Sunny September” by Helen McNicoll and “Les Saules” by Claude Monet — the team designed an interactive artistic experience in the form of a digital application. Each painting is paired with an original musical composition created from the electrophysiological signals of plants, recorded at the Montréal Botanical Garden and transformed into sound.

Participants are invited to experience three types of sensory stimulation:
• visual, through the contemplation of the paintings;
• auditory, through listening to the plant-based compositions;
• bimodal, combining sound and image for a multisensory encounter.

Throughout the experience, emotional responses are measured using both questionnaires and physiological indicators (electrodermal activity, heart rate). The goal: to understand how beauty — seen and heard — can generate positive emotions, ease eco-anxiety, and ultimately contribute to better mental health.

The project is led by the AgeTeQ laboratory and the Research Centre of the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), in collaboration with the University of Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine and museum partners who provided access to the artworks.

It is funded by the Creative Economy and Well-Being Research Chair (CREAT), which supports the development of new forms of mediation bridging art, health, and environmental issues.