NeuroDigital, a Spanish tech startup, wanted to demonstrate the amazing potential of virtual reality haptics, which enables you to touch objects that aren't there. Launched at the National Gallery in Prague, "Touching Masterpieces" gave blind people a chance to "see" famous sculptures by touching virtual versions of them. The technology opens up a new era of digital accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. An emotional video showing a blind student documenting the experience was diffused across social media.
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Art has become more accessible to the blind and the partially sighted through an innovative, immersive experience using specially adapted VR haptic glove technology. The new art experience, created by Geometry Prague in collaboration with NeuroDigital, is unveiled at the Touching Masterpieces exhibition at the National Gallery of Prague, supported by the Czech Ministry of Culture. Three of the world’s most iconic sculptural masterpieces, the bust of Nefertiti, Venus de Milo and Michelangelo’s David, have been transformed into virtual objects which people will “see” through haptic glove technology for the very first time. The haptic gloves control realistic hands in virtual space. When the virtual hand touches a 3D object in the virtual world, the technology identifies the object and sends feedback in the form of vibrations. The Avatar VR glove has been customised specifically for this project by being enriched with multi-frequency technology able to stimulate different types of skin cells’ tactile responses – to provide the blind with the most accurate perception of the 3D virtual object. “Touching Masterpieces” has been created in collaboration with Geometry Prague, NeuroDigital and the Leontinka Foundation.