The Art of Connection: how interactive art improves social interaction

'The Art of Connection' aims at developing an interactive public space to promote social interaction between residents, including vulnerable people. The project uses smart technologies to design a user- driven artwork in the public space to improve public familiarity and social interaction between young and old in the Coehoorn neighbourhood (Arnhem, The Netherlands). The public space around this Collective Private Ownership project which aims to build multi-generational cohousing in this neighbourhood, serves as a 'living lab' for this research.

Due to socio-political and demographic developments in the Netherlands, the pressure on (healthcare for) vulnerable seniors who live independently at home continues to increase. This group can benefit from the proximity of social contacts and the growth of an informal, local network. The occurrence of social interaction and (sense of) being part of some form of community in the neighbourhood are essential preconditions for the emergence of these informal networks. Through increasing opportunities for encounters in the neighbourhood and the possibilities for broadening informal and local (care) networks, the project contributes to the extramuralisation of care for the vulnerable seniors in this community.

In an iterative process, the cross-disciplinary project team in collaboration with the residents in Coehoorn design, develop and implement an interactive artwork to improve social interaction between young and old. This prototype will be evaluated using big data, combined with ethnographic methods. Through the active involvement of residents and other (local) stakeholders during the entire project, a learning community, which increases the chance of a successful intervention, will be formed.
The project results in 1) a prototype of an interactive public space to enhance the chance for public familiarity and social interaction between residents in Coehoorn and 2) the foundation of a learning community that allows for the optimal dissemination of knowledge obtained in this research.