The Virtual Engineering Centre has completed a pilot project with St George’s Hall to create a life-like digital copy of the historic and beautifully preserved Minton floor. The project is a powerful demonstration of the potential for Digital Heritage in the Liverpool City Region, as a way to help our museums and galleries innovate in a post-COVID world.
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Our support meant St. George's Hall could:
- Safely capture 30,000 handcrafted Minton tiles with minimum disruption to the Hall’s activities and visitors using innovative digital tools
- Develop a clear and concise digital scan of the flooring, within 1mm scales which can be used toward detailed historic records.
- Create a 3D digital model of the room and Minton flooring which can be used to showcase the tiles remotely through simulation technologies.
The Benefits
- Enable more visitors to remotely enjoy the beautiful and hidden tiles which are only showcased once a year through digital demonstrations
- Digital assets can be used on digital platforms such as websites for audiences to interact and engage with
- Realistic simulation can be projected over thick wooden covering for more visitors and tourists to enjoy a realistic representation of the tiles.
- Save on costs compared to alternative procedures for digitising the flooring
Client opinion
"This digitisation of the Minton floor, which is under protective covering for most of the time, will enable us to present the floor digitally to visitors whenever the opportunities arise – thereby, significantly increasing the opportunity visitors can have to see the Minton floor in its normal surroundings. The cost of digitising the floor can be up to £20,000 and the support in kind St George’s Hall has received from the University of Liverpool has been outstanding. Our aim is to develop the necessary infrastructure to digitally present the floor soon, enabling modern technology to be used to interpret a classical historical venue. "
Alan Smith,
Head of Heritage Preservation and Development
St George’s Hall
