A grant from Art Bridges this year allowed the ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ University Art Museum (FUAM) to purchase a best-in-class 3D-compatible Matterport camera that works with a parallel artificial intelligence software to transform footage of the museum’s galleries into immersive digital experiences.
The Matterport tour – coupled with an audio tour, short films, and a slide show of artworks, as well as a digital version of the exhibition catalogue – can provide a rich virtual experience.
— Carey Mack Weber, Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director
“Viewing original works of art in person is the optimal museum experience,” said Carey Mack Weber, Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director of FUAM. “When that’s not possible, providing numerous access points to an exhibition in a virtual space is the next best thing. The Matterport tour – coupled with an audio tour, short films, and a slide show of artworks, as well as a digital version of the exhibition catalogue – can provide a rich virtual experience.”
The FUAM’s new online tour experience with Matterport technology has created a 3D walk-through that enables patrons to experience exhibitions with stunning accuracy.
The tours of FUAM’s two fall exhibitions have only been available on the museum exhibition webpages for a couple of weeks, but have already had more than 100 unique visitors. The Matterport tours for FUAM’s spring exhibitions Birds of the Northeast: Gulls to Great Auks (on view from January 22) and By Design: Theater and Fashion in the Photography of Lalla Essaydi (on view from January 29) will be created before the exhibitions open, so that they are available on their respective opening days.
“We are very grateful to have the camera and the support of the Media Center, which will allow us to create virtual tours of all of our exhibitions going forward,” Weber continued. “Once the pandemic is over, and the public is welcomed back into the galleries, we will continue to create these tours, as they are useful for field trips (allowing the students to preview the exhibition before visiting in person), for University students, and others to be able to revisit the exhibition outside of museum hours, and to make the exhibition available to the general public who might not be able to visit the campus in person due to distance, transportation, or accessibility issues.”
Related programs and events are listed on the museum's calendar and on the FUAM .
