Lancaster’s art collection is being brought to life for those with sight loss and other visual impairments thanks to a grant of £16,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). We have been working with Lancaster University’s School of Engineering and Galloway’s Society for the Blind on 3D print relief images of some of the paintings on display at the museums. We are also aiming to print copies of small or fragile objects from the museum collection and make them available for people to touch.

The museums project team have been working alongside people with sight loss, two university interns and 4th year engineering students as well as academics from the School of Engineering. The project has aimed to discover the best way to 3D print relief images of paintings from the museum collections. Following feedback we added audio description and a stand to contain the 3D lithophane for ease of use. We're also focused on the need to make this as simple and inexpensive as possible, with the vision of every museum being able to afford to make their artwork available in this way.

Our original prototypes are currently being strengthened and improved by the engineering team at the university. More robust second generation installations have been incorporated into some of the displays at Lancaster City Museum, including:

The Insus Memorial - a tactile 3D replica of our iconic Roman tombstone is available beside the original in the local history gallery, with an attached earphone providing audio description.

Portrait of a Spanish Noblewoman - relief prints of this beautiful portrait can be found below the original painting, now displayed at the foot of the main staircase as part of the new Under the Frame exhibition. Audio description is available via a QR code.

Everyone - visually impaired or not - is welcome to visit the museum and try these out!

This is an ongoing project and feedback is always welcome. Please contact us by email with any comments:  

lancastercitymuseum@lancaster.gov.uk

The Touch & See project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Impact Acceleration Account, which supports Lancaster University researchers to translate their work into broader societal and economic benefits.