Hospitals Don’t Need Another Screen

Hospitals are filled with technology. Monitors, tablets, televisions and digital signs all have important jobs to do.

But when someone is sitting in a waiting room—waiting for a diagnosis, a treatment or news about someone they love—another screen is not always what they need.

Sometimes they need a moment of human connection.

That is the idea behind ActiveART. Instead of introducing another piece of equipment into the hospital, we use technology to help people look more closely at what is already around them.

A patient or family member scans a painting with their phone. The artwork is recognized, and the story behind it comes to life through a short artist-led video.

The phone is only the doorway. The artwork, the story and the connection between people are the real experience.

I have watched patients stop in front of paintings, smile, ask questions and share stories of their own. I’ve seen artwork provide a moment of color and humanity during an otherwise difficult day.

ActiveART isn’t designed to make people spend more time looking at their phones.

It is designed to help them look more closely at the world around them—and discover that someone else may understand a little of what they are going through.

Hospitals don’t need another screen.

Sometimes the art on the wall simply needs a voice.