technology
Christopher Dean, director, Touch & Discover Systems Ltd
GET IN TOUCH
Museum visitors can now touch ancient artefacts virtually. Christopher Dean explains how the technology works
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n 2012, the Manchester Museum, UK, became the first museum in the world to har- ness the new technology of haptics, giving an entirely new way of accessing the museum’s
collection of ancient artefacts in its revamped Egyptian Gallery, the Ancient Worlds. This was achieved using a con- sole called Probos, which brings digital images, sound and haptics – or virtual touch – together. Created by Touch and Discover
Systems, with funding from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Probos is a portal into virtually touching objects that are too precious to receive regular han- dling. It offers a selection of objects from a digitised catalogue that can be explored to reveal their physical quali- ties, attributes and history. Originally designed with blind and visually impaired users in mind, it has appealed to early users, especially children.
HOW IT WORKS Using a control device held in the fingertips, the user can explore the sur-
object they’re exploring, rather than the technology they’re simultaneously experiencing. As well as haptics, Probos adds extra dimensions for the sighted because it uses the three main senses of vision, hearing and touch. So far, Manchester Museum has digi-
A simple omni handle is easy to use and disguises the complex technology needed
faces, shapes and sounds of ancient objects that are usually inaccessible behind glass cases. Haptics draws on force feedback to create resistance to touch, tricking the mind into the sensa- tion of touch. In fact, nothing is there at all – it’s all virtual. The haptics device at the heart of the
system is a SensAble Phantom Omni, but the user is deliberately given the simplest of interfaces, so they’re able to use the technology after a brief tutorial with everyday objects and are unaware of the underpinning technology – we wanted the users’ focus to be on the
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tised three of its artefacts: a Greek jug, dating from circa 500 BC; a terracotta bowl surmounted with hippopotamus figures, dating from circa 5,000 BC; and an Egyptian figurine, or Shabti, dating from circa 380 BC. The visualisation environment was done using custom software by virtual reality company Virtalis. The objects were then sited in re-creations of their likely original loca- tions and each object was covered with hot spots, which tell the user about the item’s construction and history. Haptics are used to tell the story
of each object. Explorers of the hip- popotamus bowl don’t just feel the hippos, they also feel the crack that runs along its centre. The bowl even sounds cracked when you tap it virtu- ally – something you wouldn’t dare do in real life. Ultimately, we hope to digi-
AM 2 2013 ©Cybertrek 2013
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