How to Design Inclusion in Cultural Heritage: An Innovative Approach

This paper will present the procedures and outcomes of experimentation carried out in the framework of the national research project PRIN-Neuromuseum. The set of experiments, implemented in an ecological environment, saw the involvement and support of the neurosciences. In the perspective of Cultural Heritage, the Neuromuseum project aims to promote growth and integration, social inclusion and well-being; it investigates new forms of “cultural learning” in museums, examining visitors’ responses by comparison of neuropsychological and cognitive processes. The main objectives are to identify, via an experimental activity and studying different publics, “empathic design” principles to develop and create engaging cultural experiences with long-lasting effects at personal level. The carried-out activities regard the experimental stage and its interpretation and assessment, relative to the design of different museum set-ups and implementation the Pilots. This paper presents the first outcomes and results of experiments carried out in three national cultural institutions and museums: Fondazione Museo delle Antichità Egizie di Torino (Egyptian Museum); Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia – Roma (ETRU) and Necropoli Etrusca della Banditaccia – Cerveteri, Roma. Experiments were designed to delve into the visitors’ experience by proposition either of different narrations or design solutions; the use of wearable devices allowed the monitoring of the bodily response during the experience, later followed by a questionnaire aimed at the assessment of the rational and cognitive response to the testing experience. The neurophys- iological lens provides an instrument to assess the efficacy in producing emotion in visitors to be compared to the conscious self-assessment data provided through the questionnaires filled out by participants. Aforementioned data acquired shall implement the research and development of guidelines and best practices to enhance the impact of Cultural Heritage on people, regardless of their cultural level.