A byte for arts: Digital applications meet artistic expressions

Περίληψη

The use of artistic expression for diagnostics and therapy has a long tradition, which already started a century ago with psychological assessment tools using drawings to explore personality traits and inner emotions. With the advent of technical and digital achievements, these methods were adapted and integrated in corresponding therapeutic systems. This article outlines the relationship of arts and information technology from the very beginning in the fields of clinical and educational applications and human interaction aspects and gives examples of current developments. In particular, it illustrates the use of digital tools which focus on the process evaluation of arts therapies such as digital drawing applications to analyze the drawing process as a tool for the prediction of Alzheimer’s disease, or a digital device to analyze movement patterns in a landscaping task to investigate depressive moods. From a methodological point of view, these methods which integrate qualitative and quantitative research methods can be used to evaluate the impact of creative arts therapies even in small patient samples which is shown in two examples. Finally, critical questions on the impact of digitalization are addressed and an outlook towards future developments particularly in the field of music therapy is given.