New 3D interactive display at Manchester Art Gallery
20 May 2011
Hemisphere has created a new interactive digital gallery experience for Manchester Art Gallery as a key part of a major new project to reintroduce works of art to the Grade-I listed Gallery's entrance hall balcony.
Manchester Art Gallery underwent a major extension and refurbishment in 2002, but because the architecturally-listed balcony around the entrance hall is inaccessible for wheelchair users, the decision was taken not to re-hang any works of art around it. For the last two years, with the aid of external funding*, the Gallery has been undertaking a project to repopulate the balcony with a special selection of paintings and sculptures celebrating the human form, whilst at the same time developing a digital version of the display that visitors who are unable to access the balcony can experience.
Hemisphere's task encompassed the development of the concept, look, content and construction of the interactive, including the design of a bespoke wheelchair accessible interactive kiosk housing that would fit within the Victorian entrance hall area. The interactive itself centres round a virtual version of the entrance hall that visitors can self-navigate their way around, examining works of art in detail as they go. A specialist telescopic camera rig was used to take detailed shots of the decorative work in the balcony ceiling and each of the individual artworks has been photographed in high resolution to allow visitors to zoom in on screen to see the individual brush strokes on the paintings.
In developing the interactive, we've worked closely with Manchester-based architectural visualisers Our Studio, who have created the remarkably realistic 3-dimensional version of the balcony that sits at the heart of the interactive experience and have built the digital interface for the touchscreen application. The resulting interactive experience is a first not just for Manchester Art Gallery, but for the UK gallery world in general. The nearest equivalent is probably Google's online Art Project that was launched earlier this year."
Ruth Shrigley, Principal Manager for Collections Access at Manchester Art Gallery commented, "Hemisphere has really grasped the difficult challenge that we set them - we knew what we wanted to achieve but needed an agency that could help us to form the project from the ground up. Their ability to get to grips with every detail and nuance of what we required has created an experience that is so rich and engaging that it will have tremendous appeal for all visitors, not just those who can't physically access the balcony. This project has set a new benchmark for us in the standard of interactives we want to see within the Gallery and opens up a new world of possibilities in increasing access to our remarkable collections."
*External funders to the project are DCMS/Wolfson Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation and Manchester Art Gallery Trust
