Royal BC Museum staff are mixing new and old technology to create touchable versions of their precious exhibit items for visually impaired visitors. For example, ‘Buster’ the Ferrisaurus sits at the centre of the new ‘Dinosaurs of BC’ exhibit. Next to the life-sized ‘Buster’ model is a miniature version visitors can touch. Anyone can use the miniature to get a feel for the texture and proportions of a Ferrisaur.
Museum staff made the model by taking hundreds of photos of ‘Buster’ and creating a 3-Dimensional computer model. The model was then scaled down, and a plastic model was printed using a 3D printer.
The museum is expanding on its last museum-made exhibit, ‘Orcas: Our Shared Future,’ which had braille throughout. ‘Dinosaurs of BC’ also has braille, as well as a braille companion book describing the exhibit. In addition to the miniature model of ‘Buster,’ the museum also created touchable copies of dinosaur foot tracks which are also part of the exhibit, which runs until January.
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