Digital technologies applied to the accessible management of museums. The first experiments carried out at the Museum of Oriental Art of Turin

Abstract

The proposed research focuses on the museum context of the city of Turin (Italy), within an ongoing framework agreement between the Politecnico di Torino and the Museum of Oriental Art (MAO). It aims at the construction of a model for the management of the workflow that includes the digital survey, the 3D virtual modelling and the digital fabrication of the tactile models of the artworks and the exhibition spaces. The paper starts with an overview on the methods of conservation and dissemination of cultural and architectural heritage, on the accessibility of museums and on tactile perception and graphics. It presents the first outcomes of the designed workflow with a special focus on the digital fabrication experiments on the vaulted system of the atrium of Palazzo Mazzonis (MAO home). The founding idea is that tactile exploration of artifacts helps the visitor engagement, making the museum experience more educationally incisive and more inclusive, in a “Design for All” perspective.

Keywords

• ch accessibility
• museum
• tactile graphics
• haptic perception
• prototyping