Geneva Museum Visually impaired visitors to the museum
The Museum of Art and History (MAH) in Geneva supports its blind and visually impaired visitors. It is now also providing an aid that enables visually impaired people to move around the museum unaccompanied.
“Virtuoz” is the name of the tool that is already being used in hotels and retail in France, but is a novelty in museums. The MAH will present the new aid on Friday.
The tool consists of a relief map on which you can use your finger to get an idea of the location of the rooms, stairs and everything that could be an obstacle for people with visual impairments. Audio comments complement the information.
Blind or visually impaired people also carry a small device with them with additional relief maps of the rooms. These contain a description of the exhibited works.
In addition, the MAH wants to offer models of certain works once a month from January, which can be accessed by touch. The museum already has around fifteen such models that depict both self-portraits and landscapes. They enable visually impaired people to better imagine a painting. The dark parts are reproduced by rough surfaces, smooth surfaces convey the feeling of clarity and light.
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