Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, Marketing
Cole Schubert
From SEO to GEO: Optimizing the Arts ...

With many arts organizations and artists already feeling behind in their digital presence (‘Is it already time to update the website again?’), Google’s AI Overview might be baffling—not only because it's been adopted so quickly, but also because it feels unpredictable. How are arts organizations showing up (or not) in AI search? To find out, contributor Cole Schubert conducts an experiment by running four search queries on six of the top artistically vibrant cities in the United States.

From SEO to GEO: Optimizing the Arts Organization Website for Google’s AI Overview
News & Announcements, Arts & Technology
Julia Srnec
Byte-Sized Culture: AI Policy, Discovery, and ...

In this month’s edition of Byte-Sized Culture, lead researcher Julia Srnec writes about the impacts of AI on search discoverability, UNESCO and ICOM’s findings from their latest survey, Global Survey on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Museums, and how advancement in animatronics is changing immersive entertainment experiences.

Byte-Sized Culture: AI Policy, Discovery, and Hauntingly Good Animatronics
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Technology
Ziqi Xiang
Hallucination & Understanding in the Age of ...

Former AMT Lab Chief Editor of Research Ziqi Xiang explores how hallucination and understanding in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) impacts artistic creation and the value of art. He shares his preliminary modeling of this thought-provoking academic problem.

Hallucination & Understanding in the Age of AI
entertainment, Arts & Technology
Staff Editors
Venue As A Story: Location-Based Entertainment ...

In Part 1, our research team examined the history immersive entertainment industry in the United States, and current challenges facing immersive experience creators. Part II dives into the results of our online survey and findings based on interviews with industry experts. To gain insights into the audience perspective, an online survey was launched on January 17, 2026, examining overall engagement with immersive entertainment. The survey revealed a thematic overlap between immersive audiences and traditional entertainment preferences. Ultimately, a “one-model-fits-all” approach to immersive entertainment would be limiting, and our research supports the need for a fourth model called the Immersive Plaza.

Venue As A Story: Location-Based Entertainment Models, Part 2
Arts & Culture, Audience Engagement
Rebecca Hodge
Serving Fans with IP-Based Theatre Spectacles

There has been a growing trend of large, spectacular straight play productions based on popular intellectual property. IP-based theatre is a way for corporations to super-serve fans in a way that keeps them coming back to the original material.  IP-based theatre productions, like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, and The Hunger Games: On Stage, use spectacle to encourage fans to buy tickets.

Serving Fans with IP-Based Theatre Spectacles

experience economy

,

Venue As A Story: Location-Based Entertainment Models, Part 2

,
Venue As A Story: Location-Based Entertainment Models, Part 2

In Part 1, our research team examined the history immersive entertainment industry in the United States, and current challenges facing immersive experience creators. Part II dives into the results of our online survey and findings based on interviews with industry experts. To gain insights into the audience perspective, an online survey was launched on January 17, 2026, examining overall engagement with immersive entertainment. The survey revealed a thematic overlap between immersive audiences and traditional entertainment preferences. Ultimately, a “one-model-fits-all” approach to immersive entertainment would be limiting, and our research supports the need for a fourth model called the Immersive Plaza.

,

Venue As A Story: Location-Based Entertainment Models, Part 1

,
Venue As A Story: Location-Based Entertainment Models, Part 1

The immersive entertainment industry is rapidly expanding, with a projected market growth from $133.6 billion in 2024 to $473.9 billion by 2030. Through research conducted on behalf of Gensler,  the largest global design and architecture firm, this study investigates the problems persisting in the immersive entertainment industry, namely the lack of consensus regarding model distinctions, undefined success metrics, and unclear pathways for scaling projects.

, , ,

Toward a Polyphonic Ecosystem: Mapping Audience Engagement from the “Benito Bowl” to the Postdigital Museum

, , ,
Toward a Polyphonic Ecosystem: Mapping Audience Engagement from the “Benito Bowl” to the Postdigital Museum

This article examines the shifting domain of audience engagement within the arts, tracing a trajectory from ephemeral street painting performances to the high-stakes spectacle of the Super Bowl halftime show and the emergent "postdigital" museum. By synthesizing the institutional critiques of Stephen E. Weil, the "Third Space" theories of Ray Oldenburg, and the "Experience Economy" framework by Pine and Gilmore, the future of cultural meaning lies in the transition from institutional authority to communal "polyphony." Through a series of case studies—including street painting festivals and the "Benito Bowl"—this paper explores how the quality of "presence" and the "Arc of Engagement" serve as the definitive mechanisms for meaning-making in an increasingly mediated, technosocial world.