Measure what culture does to people. In 15 seconds. At any scale.
Policy-grade evidence of emotional shift, from a single screening to an entire nation's cultural infrastructure.
Get StartedCultural institutions spend billions. They count heads. They sell tickets, which only proves the marketing worked, not that the experience mattered. Nobody measures the one thing that counts.
You defend your budget with attendance numbers. But ticket sales only prove people showed up, not that anything happened to them.
You fund culture because the evidence says it works. But your own evaluation toolkit admits you cannot even measure what shifted, without a pre-event baseline.
Choosing between a sports event and a film festival? One has ROI dashboards. The other has hope.
The WHO and The Lancet have launched a multi-year Global Series documenting how the arts contribute to health, prevent illness, and support recovery. But no scalable tool exists to capture this at the audience level, in the moment.
Existing tools measure satisfaction, demographics, or spending. None capture the in-the-moment emotional shift that fades within minutes of a film ending or an exhibition closing. Sentiko adds that missing layer, alongside the longitudinal studies, ethnographies, and post-event surveys that already exist. Complementary, not competing.
| Traditional Surveys | Emotion AI (Cameras) | Emotional Barometer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to complete | 15-30 min | Passive (always-on) | 15 seconds |
| Privacy | Named respondents | Biometric capture | Fully anonymous |
| Before/after shift | Rarely | No | Yes |
| Cross-format benchmarking | No | No | Yes |
| GDPR / EU AI Act | Varies | Problematic | Compliant by design |
"Due to the nature of post-event surveys without a pre-event baseline measure, causality cannot be assumed."
The Barometer's before/after methodology gives you the baseline that post-only surveys lack.
The Framework for Cultural Statistics recognizes wellbeing impacts but provides no measurement tool.
The Barometer operationalizes it at the audience level.
The 2023 WHO-Lancet Global Series, run through the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, documents the role of the arts in promoting health, preventing illness, and supporting recovery across the lifespan.
The Barometer captures these effects in real time, fifteen seconds at a time.
Your Brain on Art, by Susan Magsamen (Director, International Arts + Minds Lab, Johns Hopkins) and Ivy Ross, maps how arts engagement measurably shifts attention, emotion, and physiology, drawing on the emerging field of neuroaesthetics.
The Barometer captures these shifts at the audience level, in the fifteen seconds that matter most.
Sentiko measures micro-resonance as a leading indicator of cultural impact, grounded in a formal Theory of Change. It complements longitudinal research. It does not replace it.
After a screening, concert, or exhibition, audiences scan a QR code and answer five yes/no questions. No app download. Any phone.
After the experience ends, a QR code appears on screen. Audiences scan with their phone camera.
15 seconds totalDo I feel calmer? More present? Did my perspective shift? Do I feel more connected? Do I want more?
15 seconds totalResponses bloom into a unique flower, a beautiful visual of what shifted inside. Shareable, personal, unforgettable.
15 seconds totalFive dimensions of emotional impact, grounded in neuroscience and wellbeing research.
Right now, I feel calmer than before. Measures nervous system regulation.
I feel more emotionally present. Measures attention and mindfulness shift.
This helped me see something differently. Measures cognitive reframing.
I feel more connected to others or the world. Measures social cohesion.
I would choose to experience more like this. Measures engagement intent.
Responses don't become a spreadsheet. They become a blooming flower. Every event adds to a growing garden.
See your unique flower bloom instantly. Save it, share it, post it. Over time, build a personal garden, a visual record of every cultural experience that moved you.
Individual flowers grow into a collective garden, a living, shareable proof of impact. Show sponsors a garden, not a bar chart.
Every event earns a flower. Audiences return to grow their garden. "I have 47 flowers this year" becomes a badge of cultural participation.
Automated reports showing which events created the biggest shifts, across which dimensions. Sponsor-ready within 48 hours of your festival.
The same 5 core metrics adapt to any context. Questions dynamically adjust to the art form, keeping data comparable across categories.
Whether you run a single venue or shape national cultural policy, one conversation shows you how this works.
markevitch@ikonotv.art