The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $1.87 million to twelve art museums to explore new ways in which technology can connect people to art.

Through a collaboration between the foundation's Arts and Technology Innovation teams, the grants will support projects that leverage Knight's experience seeding innovation in fields such as journalism and libraries. Recipients include the Akron Art Museum, which was awarded $173,329 to explore new ways to connect visitors directly with curators and other museum professionals; the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, which will receive $155,000 to create a way to browse the foundation's online collection using visual characteristics such as light, shape, and color; the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, which was awarded $150,000 to develop and deploy an SMS "chatbot" that will interact with users regardless of where they are; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, which will receive $150,000 to expand a pilot initiative that enables visitors to explore the collection on a deeper level through augmented reality and 3-D animations.

Other grants include $150,000 to the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, in support of its efforts to attract new visitors to the museum by creating a welcoming, interactive staircase and public art installation; $250,000 to the New Museum in New York City to accelerate the development of technology designed to engage museum visitors; and $100,000 to the Vizcaya Museums and Gardens in Miami in support of its efforts to enhance the visitor experience through the use of 3-D modeling and printing.

For a complete list of grant recipients, see the Knight Foundation website.