Bringing research to life:Recreating a 3D stone Archaeopteryx fossil as a digital interactive;where cutting edge science can be released through touch

作为一个大学博物馆，我们通过公共活动积极吸引游客参与曼彻斯特大学学者的工作和研究，例如大星期六和与我们的各种收藏品相关的临时和永久性展览。数字技术的发展使得在参观博物馆内外传递广泛的信息变得更加容易。这种新型的触觉敏感复制品可以将复杂的研究直接放在一个重要物体的精确复制品上，这样游客就可以通过触摸来学习事实，从而促进或自我引导的探索。这对我们的视觉和身体受损的游客尤其重要，也是许多游客发现博物馆参观的一个方面。对始祖兽等化石的研究以及最近发现的关于其羽毛的启示有助于我们的游客理解我们保存藏品的原因之一是它可以作为科学家利用的资源。博物馆的展品可以作为科学的管道，而科学本身对一些参观者来说可能是模糊的。这个石头触摸式复制品既可以作为有组织活动的一部分，也可以放在画廊里供游客互动。与研究相关的信息可以根据受众的需要进行调整，因为传感器中可以添加不止一种叙述，并且可以在新研究发表时进行更新。保护方面的考虑通常排除了对稀有易碎化石的处理，特别是随着越来越强大的分析技术的进步，任何表面物质的损失都可能影响未来的研究。所以在古生物学中，动手总是很困难的，尤其是那些脆弱而昂贵的化石。与此同时，大多数儿童和成人对“假化石”（模型）不感兴趣。这个项目将使我们能够改造演员阵容。标本的非常精确的物理表现（来源于原始的高分辨率3D扫描），结合数字触摸技术和与结果和研究相关的数字信息，精确地定位在复制化石的表面，使其成为向公众展示古生物学，更重要的是，化学的伟大工具。

As a University Museum we actively engage our visitors with the work and research of academics at Manchester University through public events, such as Big Saturdays and temporary and permanent exhibitions related to our diverse collections. The development of digital technologies has made it easier to deliver a wide range of information inside and outside of a visit to the museum. This new type of touch sensitive replica allows the complex research to be placed directly onto an accurate replica of an important object so that the visitor can physically engage through touch to learn facts in a facilitated or self-guided exploration. This is especially important to our visually and physically impaired visitors and is also an aspect of a museum visit that many visitor's find rewarding. The research on fossils such as the Archaeoptryx and the revelations that have been discovered recently about its feathers helps our visitors understand that one of the reasons we preserve collections it to act as a resource for scientists to draw upon. The museum object can act as a conduit for the science which in itself can be obscure to some visitors.The stone touch-sensitive replica can be used either as part of an organised event or placed on the gallery for visitors to interact with. The information relating to the research can be tailored to the audience as more than one narrative can be added to the sensors and can be updated as new research comes to be published.Conservation concerns normally preclude the handling of rare and fragile fossils, especially with the advancement of ever more powerful analytical techniques, where the loss of any surface material may affect future research. So hands on is always hard in palaeontology, especially with fragile and expensive fossils. At the same time, most children and adults are unimpressed by "fake fossils" (casts). This project will allow us to revamp the cast. The combination of a very accurate physical representation of the specimen (derived from a high resolution 3D scan of the original) combined with digital touch technology and digital information relating to results and research, located precisely on the surface of the replica fossil makes it a great tool in making palaeontology and more importantly,chemistry,to the general public.