The Polly World installation as part of the RHYME project was invited to become part of the programme for Arts and Culture in Norwegian Schools, called “The Cultural Rucksack” (Den kulturelle skolesekken). This is a unique cultural programme financed by the Arts Council of Norway. The objectives are to help “school pupils to become acquainted with all kinds of professional art and cultural expressions” and to “… enjoy artistic and cultural productions provided by professionals.” (www.kulturradet.no)
In the programme Polly World represents something quite new as an interactive and multi-sensorially stimulating installation, both genre-vice as installation art and regarding participation. Polly World is an offering for children with multiple and severe disabilities to engage in artistic co-creation on equal terms.
In this way the RHYME research project contributes uniquely, not only, with knowledge to its academic communities and with new technology prototypes, but also with Art and Cultural experiences for the actual use group.
Many years of research shows that Art and Cultural participation promote health, and that aesthetic qualities and experiences motivate activities. We now also have a lot of traditional health and welfare technology that monitors patients in different ways. Through 4 generations of RHYME prototypes we have developed ground-breaking health improving technology to motivate co-creation on equal terms. With Polly World now being part of the Cultural Rucksack programme, RHYME combines health improving technology and participation in art and cultural activities in an innovative way.
The RHYME project hereby enters a new paradigm within health improving technology. This is a paradigm where aesthetics and cultural dimensions are essential in the health promoting activities, and the technology enables accessibility and distributed cross-media co-creation on equal terms. This is a vision for the future of health and welfare technology: A Cultural and Aesthetic-based Welfare Technology.