This chapter explores the concept of authentic experiences and how it could be applied to design new engaging applications and user experiences dedicated to coloured collections. The authors analyse how the concept was used in different domains. They then explore users’ behaviours and their understanding of this concept by designing a Cultural Probe Kit and involving a group of participants into an experiment. They then summarise the results and propose a theoretical framework in which authenticity is made of three interconnected dimensions: the ‘Self’ (representing cognitive, emotional and sensory engagement characteristics of individual users), the ‘Others’ (dealing with social relationships) and the ‘World’ (as physical or digital environment). As a conclusion, the chapter presents examples of how such framework can be practically applied to Interactive Media projects.

Cultural heritage care emphasizes preservation, ethical duty, empathy, and relational bonds, with museums fostering deeper connections and historical understanding. This paper develops a design approach to interactive media applied to coloured collection, by focusing on a “care theory” for cultural heritage. The work also analyses art from diverse periods and media, exploring how various engagement types—visual, emotional, interactive—evoke care in viewers. Multimedia art similarly fosters empathy and reflection. The study utilized a Cultural Probe Kit to analyse caring behaviours, revealing traits and triggers that prompt a caring attitude. A proposed framework outlines emotional and empathetic aspects, emphasizing meaningful connections between caregivers and cultural heritage, enhanced through storytelling, engagement, and interactive technologies. Museums, as social spaces, benefit from user participation, fostering care and meaning making. Two prototypes like ColorColab and MyTISSE are described, focusing on their capacity to engage visitors with hands-on, multi-sensory technology, enhancing their personal connections to artifacts and social interactions. The chapter closes testing the framework and caring trigger on a number of different interactive projects.

This study investigates whether persuasive technologies can foster visitor care for cultural heritage. Building on HCI principles and museum learning research, it presents the validation of the PERCEIVE Care Framework through Echoes of Loss, an interactive prototype developed within the Horizon Europe PERCEIVE project. The experience addresses lost polychromy in Graeco-Roman statues, using the Temple of Isis in Pompeii as a case study. Evaluated across three distinct settings, the study contributes practical design principles for curators and designers seeking to create meaningful, care-oriented digital heritage experiences.

This chapter focuses on the design methodology adopted with the goal of developing interactive experiences for the visitors aimed at engaging them with coloured collections. The methodological approach is described and a detailed description, following the PACT framework, is included. Key stakeholders are drafted, while an extensive space is given to the main nine activities that characterise colour reconstruction. Finally, a Co-Design tool is described.