The project “touch the science” aims to make available to all, the scientific goods belonging to the cultural heritage of the University of Pavia, which are exhibited by the Museum of Electrical Technology. The latter, part of the University Museum System, exhibits objects with represent the history of the inventors and his inventions in the field of electrical technology. But how to turn the tacit knowledge of such objects in explicit knowledge to be acquired by a larger audience? How to fulfill the needs of diverse and above all curious visitors? Curiosity – the philosopher Michel Foucault (Ethics: Subjectivity and Truth – Essential Works of Foucault, 1954-1984, The New Press 1998: pp. 141-142) wrote – “evokes ‘concern’; it evokes the care one takes for what exists and could exist; a readiness to find strange and singular what surrounds us; a certain relentlessness to break up our familiarities and to regard otherwise the same things; a fervour to grasp what is happening and what passes”.

And then how to feed and satisfy this curiosity as perceived by the child and the adult, by who has developed all five senses and who is not? This is the challenge that the Museum of Electrical Technology intends to address in line with the principle of accessibility, already recognized by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which reaffirms the importance of the participation of persons with disabilities in cultural life, recreation, and leisure and sports (Art. 30).

We would like to make science available to all, we spread the knowledge of the history of inventors and inventions, from the Volta’s battery to current technological applications that have changed and are profoundly affecting the everyday life.

The Museum of Electrical Technology has already launched a sensory exhibition project, through the creation and implementation of a tactile map, with the aid of LOMBARDY REGION LAW 39/74 YEAR 2016. The map was designed by Prof. Alessandro Greco and Ph.D. Dr. Valentina Giacometti, and built with 3D printing technology by the 3DLab@UNIPV – Virtual Modeling and Additive Manufacturing for Advanced Materials – of the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, coordinated by Prof. Ferdinando Auricchio. Thanks to the valuable support of Nicola Stilla (Regional President of the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted), it was possible to validate the functionality of that map.

By using the same technique and taking advantage of the collaboration of the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted, the crowdfunding project aims to realize the entire project of the new sensory exhibition, through the three-dimensional reproduction of the most significant objects of the permanent collection of the Museum (Stator Central Paderno d’Adda, Dinamo Edison, Telegraph, Industrial robot, Tram).

The Museum project will be advantaged by the support of the Dr. Monica Schmid and Mr. Francesco Decortes operating at the Rehabilitation Center of Visual Impairment I.C.S. Maugeri in Pavia, whose experience aimed at solving everyday problems of people with acquired visual impairment, allow a targeted staging and sure effect. Users / patients among the first experience the path so as to become themselves protagonists in the preparatory stages: touching, but also feel, perceive beyond 3D printing.

The crowdfunding will aid the interdisciplinary work team (including researcher in business administration, engineering, and medicine).The latter will enable the Museum to satisfy the curiosity not only of blind or visually sighted adults, but also of the children, fully or partially sighted, with a common sense of curiosity/knowledge. Thus all of them will have the opportunity to “touch” the science, experiencing something new and exciting to the Museum of Electrical Technology.

LINK

http://dicar.unipv.eu/site/home/dettaglio-home/articolo730000582.html
http://saisd.unipv.it/accounts/profile/
http://www.uicipavia.it/organizzazione.html
https://www.uiciechi.it/organizzazione/regioni/Lombardia.asp
http://updatepavia.wixsite.com/accessibility
http://www-4.unipv.it/3d/
http://www.plano-design.com/
http://www.filoalfa3d.com/it/