Two years ago Tiffany Dharma visited the Big Apple as part of The Stanford Art Institute’s Arts Immersion program. After that, her entire perception of art changed. While there, Dharma was exposed to the arts in a way that she never had been before, “ It made me realize that there is (and must be) a place for art in every-day life”, said Dharma.
Fast-forward two years. Tiffany Dharma is a senior, and building an interactive tool to bring the arts to anyone, anywhere. Using Javascript and Processing, Dharma’s appropriately named application Evoke is based on data points such as a person’s reason for visiting the museum, their current mood, and their biometric feedback. Evoke then surfaces art from the collection that people with similar interests have enjoyed. The art is accompanied by a history of the period, piece, or artist along with a connection to social media to encourage discussion.
Tiffany Dharma is a senior, and building an interactive tool to bring the arts to anyone, anywhere. Using Javascript and Processing, Dharma’s appropriately named application Evoke is based on data points such as a person’s reason for visiting the museum, their current mood, and their biometric feedback.
How did Dharma create a database of art from around the globe? By traveling the world. During her personal vacation time, Dharma visited 6 museums- the De Young Museum in San Francisco; Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC; Museum of Modern Art in NYC; LACMA in Los Angeles; Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam; and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark. The journey involved a series of interviews with museum officials at each location, and a pattern emerged- people just weren’t talking about the art. “I found that the way people approached art and interacted with each other in these cultural spaces was far removed from how curators expected them to behave, and this was true across the globe”, said Dharma.
“I found that the way people approached art and interacted with each other in these cultural spaces was far removed from how curators expected them to behave, and this was true across the globe”, said Dharma.
Before packing her bags and jetting off, Dharma did her homework. Because Evoke was developed on the research track of Honors in the Arts, the legwork was just as relevant as the product. By examining literature reviews and user studies of visitors, Dharma sought to understand how people interact in museums. “I have always loved art museums and regarded them as a special place where people could connect with perspectives, cultures, and time periods different than their own” said Dharma, “not only are they an “arbiter of taste” for the art world, but they can also serve the public as an educational resource or place to spend an entertaining afternoon.”
Dharma’s research revealed that people just do not interact in these cultural spaces- at least not the way we think. Armed with her degree in Computer Science, Dharma was able to create an app that breaks down the barrier of communication in museums. By matching like-minded individuals, Evoke gives the user a sense of community and culture.
On June 4 at Bing Studio, Dharma presented her research and the app at the Honors in the Arts Symposium to a captivated audience. The recent graduate attributes much of the success of Evoke to her experiences with The Stanford Arts Institute. “Even though I was a computer science major, SAI gave me opportunities to deepen my understanding and appreciation of the arts – a cross-disciplinary experience that is uniquely Stanford”, said Dharma.
After graduating, Tiffany moved to Paris, where she spends half the day working at a start-up and the other half traveling around France, visiting the museums that she loves. In September, Dharma will move to San Francisco and begin work as an Analyst at Accenture’s Technology Labs, the innovation research and development arm of a tech consulting firm.
