Archaeology meets Psychology

Digital and immersive technologies have become increasingly important in both research and knowledge transfer in recent years. Since 2018, the Department of Classical Archaeology at JLU Giessen has been actively investigating the use of digital interaction technologies in museum contexts and university teaching. The department is now expanding its work into new areas of research. In collaboration with the Department of Experimental Psychology, we are exploring perceptual processes through eye-tracking experiments conducted in virtual reality environments using 3D models of ancient sculptures.

In a collaborative project between Classical Archaeology and the Perception & Action group in the Department of Psychology at JLU, we are currently investigating how methods from contemporary perception research can be applied within Classical Archaeology to deepen our understanding of how people in antiquity perceived sculpture and, more broadly, experienced their visual world.

The project focuses on sculpture from the Hellenistic period of the 3rd century BC, a time marked by significant transformations in pictorial composition. This era witnessed not only the emergence of a new political order in the Mediterranean following the conquests of Alexander the Great, but also changing modes of visual perception. Evidence from large-scale three-dimensional sculptures of this period suggests that viewers no longer approached statues from a single fixed viewpoint. Instead, they moved dynamically around works such as the so-called Gaul Ludovisi, integrating multiple perspectives into a unified visual experience.

This concept of multiple viewpoints represented a departure from the compositional principles that had dominated sculpture both before and after the 3rd century BC. Earlier sculptures were typically designed to be understood from a privileged viewpoint, encouraging a more static mode of viewing characterised by distance and contemplation. By contrast, sculptures of the Hellenistic period appear to invite a more immersive and physically engaged form of spectatorship.

The project investigates how modern viewers interact with multi-viewpoint sculptures in comparison to statues structured around a single viewpoint. It aims to identify characteristic movement and viewing patterns associated with each compositional type. In addition, the study examines whether the multi-perspectival nature of 3rd-century BC sculpture is connected to specific compositional “trigger points” that prompt viewers to move around the statue in particular ways.

The underlying hypothesis is that, if distinct movement and viewing patterns can be identified for different sculptural compositions, comparable patterns may also be inferred for ancient viewers. At the same time, the study of ancient sculpture offers valuable perspectives for contemporary perception research by providing insights into how people interact with complex spatial objects and immersive visual environments.

For this investigation, an experiment was developed within a virtual reality (VR) environment in which participants observed and moved around twelve statues of different compositional types, classified as either single-viewpoint or multi-viewpoint works. Spatial movement patterns and gaze durations were recorded using eye-tracking technology in order to identify preferred viewpoints and potential compositional “trigger points.” The results were subsequently validated through comparison with photographs of preferred views that participants selected and captured within the VR environment during a later phase of the experiment.

This experimental design made it possible to analyse participant behaviour in a setting experienced as naturalistic, while still maintaining precise control over the environment and assigned tasks. In this way, the study avoided the artificial constraints often associated with laboratory conditions that differ substantially from real-world perception.

Evaluation of the datasets from an initial pilot group of three participants has already revealed clear differences in the perception of single-viewpoint and multi-viewpoint large-scale sculptures, not only with regard to spatial movement patterns but also in terms of the time spent viewing different sides of the statues.

Visualisations based on superimposed participant movements demonstrate distinct patterns of engagement with the two compositional types. Whereas participants tended to concentrate on the frontal aspect of single-viewpoint statues, interaction with multi-viewpoint sculptures involved more extensive spatial movement and greater attention to alternative views, driven by exploratory behaviour and prolonged viewing times.

Further analysis of the ongoing experiments is still pending. Nevertheless, the preliminary findings suggest that the effects of different compositional strategies can be clearly differentiated and interpreted meaningfully from the perspective of cultural history.

In addition, the experiment generated valuable insights that closely align with the Department of Classical Archaeology’s ongoing work and will be incorporated more extensively into future teaching at JLU. The use of 3D models of ancient objects and archaeological sites has long contributed to immersive forms of learning that combine analytical and experiential approaches. Within the context of the experiment, students of Classical Archaeology showed significantly higher levels of engagement when viewing statues in a VR environment than when working with the conventional two-dimensional photographs typically used in teaching. Given the central importance of visual analysis in Classical Archaeology, technologies capable of strengthening intrinsic motivation are likely to play an increasingly important role in the training of future scholars.

Contact: Prof. Dr. Katharina Lorenz and Dr. Claudia Schmieder