From a media release

Art Rate Monitor
At The Art Gallery of Ontario 

First-of-its-kind museum activation invites visitors to discover how their heart reacts as they encounter great art
With wearable tech and a personalized wrap report, visitors can see what moved them as they explore the AGO

• AGO’s Art Rate Monitor is free with general admission until November 19 

TORONTO — Since launching in September, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s innovative Art Rate Monitor has been asking visitors “how does your heart react to our art?” And today, halfway through its limited-time run, early results suggest that it is Modern Art that is setting Toronto hearts a-flutter.

Designed by the AGO with Zulu Alpha Kilo and technology partners WXM Tech, this first-of-its-kind activation pairs wearable heartrate monitors and beacon technology to track visitor heart rates as they move across four levels of the museum. Free with admission and available to visitors of all ages, more than 3,000 visitors have chosen to participate so far. 

The details of their visit are shared back to them via a personalized shareable digital wrap report, which summarizes their physical responses to select artworks, revealing what moved them most, what calmed them down, what colour drew them in and where they lingered the longest. It also assigns participants to one of eight playful art personas from Muse to Powerhouse. 

“People come to the museum for many reasons – to play, to learn, to decompress, to be alone, to connect, or to be inspired. And now, for the first time, we’re able to showcase some of the very real physiological impacts of spending time with art,” says Herman Lo, Senior Director, Visitor Welcome, Art Gallery of Ontario. “The Art Rate Monitor is a playful and insightful way to show visitors that each AGO visit – and visitor – is unique. This is the gallery of us.”

What's Your Art Rate?

With a collection as diverse as the city it calls home, it’s not surprising that early results among AGO visitors are eclectic. To date, the AGO has found that:

• German artist Gerhard Richter’s sensitive photo-painting Helga Matura (1966), currently on view as part of Moments in Modernism, is proving a visitor favourite – with most participants spending the most time with this painting. It’s also the work that’s making 20- to 30-year-olds’ heart rates go slo-mo.
• Visitors aged 30 to 40 are enjoying Otto Dix’s satirical style of realist painting, spending the most time with his eerie Portrait of Dr. Heinrich Stadelmann (1922).
• Meanwhile, in the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art, Japanese-Canadian artist Kazuo Nakamura’s lush Landscape (1963) is setting the hearts of visitors over 40 racing.

As for colour preferences? Seems visitors across all age categories remain firmly in their Greige era. We love an overcast GTA day. 

• Free with general admission, the Art Rate Monitor continues through Nov. 19, 2024.
• The AGO is always free for Ontarians under 25, AGO Members, Annual Passholders, and Indigenous Peoples. For more details on how to become a Member or Annual Passholder, visit ago.ca.