The Virtual Museum You Can Touch
Japanese firm NTT has unveiled a system that makes three-dimensional images solid enough to grasp. The system combines a 3D display with a “haptic glove,†with no special glasses required. They’ve suggested two interesting uses for the device:
- business people could shake hands from across the globe
- allow museum visitors to feel precious exhibits that are normally out of reach
Is this the future of virtual museums? Backtracking to a previous post on museums in Second Life, a lively debate currently taking place is between imitation and innovation – how can virtual worlds help students learn beyond what already occurs in the classroom? What are practical uses of simulated environments? Devices like this may be the answer to those questions by creating physical interfaces to navigate virtual representations of objects. Normally when you visit a museum there’s a barrier between visitors and artifacts; this device could remove that, and allow museums to be entirely represented in simulated environments. Imagine being able to hold an ancient sword, or object that would normally be encased in glass. It would change the entire experience of museums.
Building physical interfaces for experiencing history may sound familiar – it fits right in with Bill Turkel’s idea of creating history appliances. The article stated that NTT is currently working with the British Museum in London to create a touchable exhibit; the future isn’t that far off.
