Civic Museums of Monza adopts TouchKEY+ haptic technology within a Multisensory Station to enable visual impaired and blind visitors to explore digitized works of art
As part of the PNRR tender, Mission 1 “Digitization, innovation , competitiveness and culture”, Component “Tourism and Culture” (M1C3), Civic Museums projects were intended to make the museum accessible and inclusive by removing physical, sensorial and cognitive barriers to allow everyone to enjoy the artistic and cultural heritage of the city.
The Project
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Goals
Expand the expressive possibilities to describe artworks to visually impaired or blind visitors, by leveraging digital replicas of artworks.
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TouchKEY+ Multisensory Station
Installation of a multisensory station based on TouchKEY+ devices, which replicate shapes, vibrations and thermal sensations associated with selected elements of artworks on the users' skin. Starting from 10 digitized pieces of art, we also created the interactive exploration path, matching audioguides with tactile experiences.
The key to feel the beauty in art
Traditionally, the approach to designing visiting paths for visually and blind visitors in museums consists of tactile explorations of artworks. Tactile and descriptive language used to present the physical reproduction is often limited by the static nature of three-dimensional plastic or raised-line drawings. Moreover, physical reproductions complicate space management in the museum, thus limiting the offering of artworks.
TouchKEY+ Multisensory Solution offers the chance to explore an increasing number of artworks, that can be quickly digitized and augmented with tactile sensations, and be explored from a single station.
Behind the scene: the 3D replica and tactile sensations
Touching an artwork is made possible through the 3D Model, created to allow the perception of geometries and shapes at a tactile level during the experience. With the 3D replica, users can zoom and explore the artwork from general to detailed perspectives, without being constrained by a specific reproduction scale. Moreover, temperature and textures maps were created to replicate realistic tactile sensations associated with materials and objects, or to recreate the mood of landscapes (like hot sensations associated with sunset).
Partners: Aerarium Chain, Keiron Interactive
About
The Civic Museums of Monza is the first fully accessible museum in Italy, removing physical, cognitive and sensorial barriers. It includes the collections of the Civic Art Gallery and the Arengario Historical Museum. Their public institution dates back to 1935 and was created around an important collection nucleus that arrived at the Municipality in 1923 from the Galbesi Segrè bequest. Among the artistic collections, the paintings and sculptures of Monza artists operating in the second half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century stand out for their importance and numerical density. Also of great interest is the conspicuous nucleus of twentieth-century drawings and graphics, which entered the collections through direct bequests from the artists or their heirs.
TouchKEY+ Multisensory Station
TouchKEY+ devices deliver tactile sensations like shapes, vibrations, and thermal sensations, which are applied to fingertips and are associated with selected elements of the artwork.
Tactile sensations are integrated with custom audio guides providing descriptive texts, which can be activated according to user’s exploration path.
