This case study explores how the Museum in a Box device was used as part of their Seeing Without Sight project to deliver a multi-sensory museum experience.
The Hunt Museum, located in Limerick, Ireland, has a rich collection of art and historical artifacts. Their mission is to increase accessibility, making museum experiences inclusive to all visitors, particularly those with disabilities.
The Seeing Without Sight project aimed to break barriers for visually impaired individuals, enabling them to engage with museum artifacts through sensory exploration. A key component was the use of Museum in a Box, which allowed visitors to interact with 3D-printed replicas of museum objects, paired with audio descriptions.
The project was co-created with visually impaired individuals, who participated in workshops to select objects, create vivid descriptions, and even record their voices for the audio guides. The Museum in a Box technology played a crucial role in enhancing this experience by delivering tactile and auditory engagement with the artifacts.
The project has been celebrated for its innovative approach, winning the Inclusive Event Award at the 2023 Heritage Council Awards. Visitors were able to touch 3D-printed replicas of objects while listening to audio descriptions via the Museum in a Box, making the museum experience more interactive and accessible to those with visual impairments. This method is being looked at as a model for other museums globally.
“The Seeing Without Sight project and exhibition formed an important milestone on the Hunt Museum’s journey to expand access and inclusion for people with disabilities. The accessibility design solutions presented in it benefited and enriched the experience for everyone, not just people with visual impairment. The exhibition was a huge success and particularly enabled us to build strong relationships with disability groups from across the Midwest in Ireland. Arts and Disability Ireland and Vision Ireland were huge supporters and promoted it to their service users on an on-going basis.” Maria Cagney, Curator of Education and Outreach
Their Seeing Without Sight Project involved:
- A year of workshops during which our visually impaired co-creators explored Collection objects through touch and supported the writing of audio description text for 35 objects
- Visually impaired co-creators performed the audio recordings of nine objects of the objects they selected. they selected. These were presented using Museum in a Box.
- Rapid Innovation Unit at the University of Limerick 3D printed 8/9 objects to exceptionally high quality and standard
- Large yellow interpretative panel was designed to work in conjunction with screen reader technology
- Object labels were made available in large format and braille
- Sensory station desks are height adaptable for wheel chairs
Lessons Learned
The use of Museum in a Box demonstrated that technology could enhance museum accessibility and inclusivity. By combining tactile learning with audio, the Hunt Museum ensured that all visitors could form a connection with the objects in their collection, expanding the scope of traditional museum interaction.
For further details about the project, you can refer to the Hunt Museum’s documentation of the Seeing Without Sight project.
The featured image is of the European Heritage Hub at the Royal Palace, National Gallery, Bucharest, as part of the second European Heritage Summit, which was organised by Europeana Foundation in partnership with Europa Nostra. Photo Courtesy of the Hunt Museum Limerick