CNRS and the Louvre-Lens museum study perception of art with Ikonikat
(WorldNews France)

Why ask museum visitors to tell us what they see in a work of art when they can just show us? Ikonikat is the fruit of research coordinated by Mathias Blanc of the Institut de recherches historiques du Septentrion (CNRS / Université Lille 3). The application lets people identify those aspects of an artwork they think are salient by drawing on an image of it. Since Ikonikat does not require knowledge of any specialized art vocabulary, it lets everyone participate, without even having to speak up. Visitors have only to pick up a tablet displaying a picture of the work they are viewing, and then circle, underline, or otherwise mark the pictorial elements they consider essential or intriguing....