New model-making technology could help visually impaired visitors to heritage sites

Visually impaired people could soon benefit from new model-making technology developed by Hull University.

The University’s Design Enterprise Centre has collaborated with local business, Visually Impaired Media Access Consultants (Vimac), to create a detailed replica of Thornton Abbey in North Lincolnshire. The model is held in the hand and enabled users to experience the abbey through touch, replicating the intricate details of its architecture.

English Heritage, which manages the abbey, is working with Hull University and Vimac to make similar models available at Thornton and other sites around the country.

The prototype model was made by first scanning images of the abbey into a computer using a 3D laser. The data was then manipulated using Computer Aided Design and the information then fed into their rapid prototype machine to produce a tactile model made of plastic.

“This is an impressive technology with real potential to help bring history to life, particularly for visually impaired visitors,” said Kevin Booth, Senior Curator for the North of England at English Heritage. “We have used tactile models elsewhere at our sites, but nothing entailing this degree of precision. The results are really quite remarkable.”

(News in Brief, 24 Hour Museum - 13 April 2007)