Tactile Translations: Algorithmic Modelling for Museum Inclusiveness

Abstract

Is it possible to ‘see’ in perspective? Starting from this question, the study proposed here seeks to offer new horizons of usability for pictorial works by blind and visually impaired people, through the application of the theoretical notions of descriptive geometry, algorithmic digital modelling and digital manufacturing. The objective of the research is to create tactile in the round supports that are consistent with the projective system of the perspective representations found within the pictorial works of art, through a semi-automated process that allows what is represented to be translated into solid perspective in paintings. Using a specially created algorithm, it is possible to generate such transformations starting from data obtained from a reverse perspective process. Within the few Italian museums that make tactile models available for the blind, which allow the paintings to be ‘seen’ by touch, one can only find artefacts in low perspective relief which are not able to translate completely the complexity and ‘depth’ of the scenes depicted, effectively mortifying the entire synaesthetic experience. Furthermore, to expand the horizons of enjoyment of figurative works of art and guarantee maximum inclusiveness and accessibility to blind and partially sighted people, the themes of haptic perception were explored in depth, in an attempt to create a physical model capable of translating and temporalizing the perspective space depicted within the pictorial scenes examined.