A new option for the visually impaired to experience 3D art at museums: manual exploration of virtual copies

Visitors to museums are usually not allowed to touch works of art, which means significant restrictions in the experience of art for visually impaired people. A European research project (PURE- FORM), coordinated by PERCRO in Pisa, Italy, indicates a new option. It aims to make possible manual exploration of virtual 3D copies of works of art via a haptic display developed within the project. A selection of statues has been digitized, and virtual 3D copies of them made available for touching. The final goal is that a virtual library of statues will be created that is accessible at all museums having the nec- essary equipment.