The 3E Concept: Education, Engagement, and Entertainment in Designing Digital Tools for Cultural Institutions

Introduction: Inspired by Reflection and Evidence

Museums, galleries, and cultural institutions across Europe are entering a new era of transformation. Artificial Intelligence (AI), immersive media, and data-driven technologies are no longer distant innovations, they are becoming the standard tools of audience development.

This article is inspired by the findings of the WONDERCUT Assessment Report on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS⁾. As one of the report’s contributors, I was struck by how consistently cultural professionals voiced both enthusiasm and hesitation about emerging technologies. They saw AI as a powerful catalyst for creativity and inclusion and yet warned of its capacity to distort meaning.

I found myself reflecting on a recurring question raised by cultural professionals, artists, and museum representatives: How can technology inspire, educate, engage, and entertain without reducing culture to spectacle?

The focus groups conducted in Berlin and Nuremberg revealed one common fear: the “Disneyfication” of cultural spaces as a drift toward spectacle over substance. At the same time, professionals recognised an urgent demand for digital tools that can reach younger audiences, especially Gen Z visitors accustomed to interactivity and personalisation.
Many institutions, however, still struggle with sustainability, ethical guidance, and long-term vision.

As a response to these challenges, I propose the 3E Concept: Education, Engagement, and Entertainment, as a compass for designing digital experiences that combine innovation with authenticity, creativity with responsibility. It is a framework rooted in WONDERCUT’s research and a personal reflection on how technology can truly inspire, educate, engage, and entertain.

Education: Inspiring Curiosity, Not Instruction

Education remains the heart of every cultural institution. Yet, in today’s digital environment, education is no longer about instruction or information transfer, it’s about curiosity and discovery. Emerging technologies can transform learning into experience, but only when guided by guided by human knowledge and curatorial integrity.

A remarkable example is the Van Gogh Museum’s Meet Vincent Experience in Amsterdam. Using immersive scenography, 3D sounds, and motion design, visitors “walk” through the painter’s life and letters, gaining not only knowledge but empathy, feeling the emotional landscape behind his art.

Similarly, The Dalí Museum’s Dalí Lives project in Florida uses AI to recreate the artist’s likeness, enabling visitors to hear his words and humour in a way that invites reflection on surrealism, identity, and the human–machine dialogue.

These projects show how education in culture can be deeply moving when it prioritises understanding over spectacle. When I think about educational design in digital culture, I always return to this question: Does the tool deepen understanding or merely display knowledge?

To inspire and educate, a well-designed digital tool should:

• Be accurate, contextual, and inclusive, guided by curatorial expertise;
• Present multi-layered narratives, suitable for different audiences;
• Encourage active exploration rather than passive consumption.

When technology helps visitors connect facts with feelings, learning becomes a lasting experience!

Engagement: Connecting Emotion and Understanding

If education opens the mind, engagement opens the heart. It is about participation, empathy, and shared meaning by building relationships between visitors, stories, and places. Today’s audiences, especially younger ones, expect experiences that respond to them, not static displays, but conversations.

The Assessment Report identified audience engagement as the most frequent use of AI in cultural institutions, particularly through chatbots, mobile apps, and interactive exhibitions. However, participants warned that engagement without reflection can lead to “theme park” dynamics. Engagement should never be confused with entertainment. It is a dialogue - emotional, sensory, and intellectual.

A model example of meaningful engagement is the Louvre’s Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass VR exhibition. It allows visitors to see invisible details of Da Vinci’s technique while listening to contextual analysis. The experience does not replace the original painting, as it deepens the encounter, and invites reflection on craftsmanship and innovation rather than offering a selfie moment.

Another case is The Museum of Natural History’s T. rex: The Ultimate Predator in New York, which combines AR and interactive games to teach evolution through playful participation. Engagement, in this sense, is not a function of technology but of design philosophy: the desire to connect human experience with cultural knowledge.

Engagement becomes meaningful when digital tools:

• Enable dialogue and co-creation, letting visitors contribute reflections or stories;
• Foster empathy and emotional connection with art and heritage;
• Strengthen the sense of belonging and participation in cultural spaces.

True engagement isn’t about clicking — it’s about connecting!

Entertainment: Evoking Wonder with Responsibility

The third “E” Entertainment is often misunderstood, as a threat to seriousness, yet it may be the most transformative. In culture, entertainment doesn’t mean triviality, it means awakening a sense of wonder- to capture the imagination, not to distract it.

The Assessment Report warned of the growing risk of “Disneyfication” where museums chase popularity through spectacle. However, responsible entertainment can become a powerful medium for cultural storytelling as an emotional bridge between information and inspiration.

The teamLab Borderless Museum in Tokyo and ARTECHOUSE in Washington D.C. show how digital art can merge creativity, interactivity, and education. Their immersive environments allow visitors to step “inside” art, transforming viewing into co-creation. Visitors do not simply look, they interact, learn, and feel. These experiences prove that entertainment can be intelligent, poetic, and educational all at once.

Introducing entertainment in cultural contexts is about designing creative moments that make learning pleasurable and memorable, where visitors leave inspired, not distracted.

For cultural institutions, entertainment should:

• Evoke imagination, joy, and reflection while maintaining authenticity and curatorial respect;
• Use creative storytelling to make complexity accessible;
• Celebrate the emotional dimension of learning, the feeling of wonder that makes us return. 

When done wisely, entertainment doesn’t overshadow meaning — it anchors memory. It transforms a visit into an emotional journey that stays long after leaving the museum.

The Silent Fourth “E”: Ethics and Responsibility

Behind Education, Engagement, and Entertainment stands a silent but indispensable pillar, Ethics. The Assessment Report clearly states that the responsible use of AI requires transparency, accuracy, and inclusion. Every digital design choice, from data collection to narrative framing, reflects an ethical position.

Ethics ensures that digital creativity does not compromise cultural integrity. Institutions should:

• Communicate how AI is used and credit human authorship;
• Ensure data privacy, intellectual property, and accessibility;
• Balance innovation with cultural sensitivity, especially when reinterpreting heritage.

Without ethics, the 3E Concept risks becoming decoration. With ethics, it becomes a foundation for trust and credibility in the digital cultural sphere.

Reflecting the 3E Concept on Institutional Demand and Sustainability

The 3E Concept is not only a design approach, it is also a response to institutional realities, rethinking how institutions plan, resource, and sustain digital innovation. As WONDERCUT’s assessment found, there is a clear demand for digital innovation across cultural sectors, but a lack of sustainable models to maintain and evolve these tools. Many digital tools rely on temporary project funding, leading to fragmented efforts and the loss of institutional memory once a project end.

Integrating the 3E Concept can help institutions prioritise investments that are educationally meaningful, socially engaging, and creatively sustainable. A digital tool that embodies the 3Es has greater public value and long-term impact, because it connects technology to mission. 

When institutions design digital tools through the 3E lens, they naturally align innovation with purpose.

• Educational tools justify investment by expanding access and inclusion.
• Engaging experiences build community, attracting partnerships and recurring audiences.
• Entertaining, creative formats support visibility and outreach.

A project that embodies the 3Es has intrinsic sustainability because it delivers lasting cultural, not only technological, value. The future of digital culture lies in designing tools that do not expire with funding cycles, but live through continuous learning and participation.

Sustainability in digital culture is not only about maintaining servers or software; it is about maintaining trust, purpose, and community. The institutions that will thrive are those that treat digital innovation as a continuation of cultural storytelling, not as a marketing trend.

Conclusion: From Reflection to Practice

The 3E Concept: Education, Engagement, and Entertainment is both a reflection on the findings of the WONDERCUT Assessment Report and a personal response to its most pressing question: How can we use technology to make culture more human, not less?

By designing digital tools that educate with accuracy, engage with empathy, entertain with creativity, and operate with ethics, cultural institutions can truly transform the way audiences experience culture turning each interaction into an act of learning, reflection, and joy.

Technology should not overshadow the artist’s voice or the visitor’s imagination; it should amplify both. This is how we can ensure that digital culture remains a space of authentic connection, sustainable growth, and continuous wonder.

References:

Mehnert, W., Velkovska, Z., Nishi, M., Häfner, M., & Piesbergen, J. (2025). Assessment Report: Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS). WONDERCUT Project Deliverable D5.

Van Gogh Museum (2023). Meet Vincent van Gogh Experience. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/visit/whats-on/meet-vincent-van-gogh-experience

The Dalí Museum (2019). Dalí Lives: Art Meets Artificial Intelligence. St. Petersburg, Florida.

https://thedali.org/exhibit/dali-lives/ 

Caramiaux, B. (2020). The Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Cultural and Creative Sectors. Research for the European Parliament’s CULT Committee. Publications Office of the EU.

Musée du Louvre (2019). Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass (VR Exhibition). Paris, France.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/what-s-on/exhibitions/mona-lisa-beyond-the-glass 

American Museum of Natural History (2020). T. rex: The Ultimate Predator. New York, USA.

https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/t-rex-the-ultimate-predator 

Murphy, O., & Villaespesa, E. (2020). AI: A Museum Planning Toolkit. The Museums + AI Network, UK.

teamLab (2018–present). MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: teamLab Borderless. Tokyo, Japan. https://www.teamlab.art/e/borderless/ 

ARTECHOUSE (2021). Immersive Digital Art Experiences. Washington, D.C.

https://www.artechouse.com/location/washington-dc/ 

German Commission for UNESCO (2024). Approaches to an Ethical Development and Use of AI in the Cultural and Creative Industries.

Dikow, R. B. et al. (2023). Developing Responsible AI Practices at the Smithsonian Institution. Research Ideas and Outcomes Journal, 9, e113334.

NEMO (Network of European Museum Organisations) (2024). AI in Museums – Recommendations for a Shared European Vision.

European Commission (2024). Creative Europe Work Programme 2023–2026. Brussels: European Commission.

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