Tactile images were created for the exhibition “1525-2015. Pavia, the Battle, the Future. Nothing was the same again”, a satellite event of Expo 2015, held at Visconti Castle in Pavia, from 13 June to 29 November 2015. The exhibition featured one of the spectacular series of seven tapestries depicting the Battle of Pavia: “Sortie of the Besieged and Rout of the Swiss, Many Drowning in the River Ticino,” with a representation of the city of Pavia in the background.
The tapestries, on permanent display at the National Museum of Capodimonte, each measuring approximately 440 × 870 cm, were woven in Brussels, probably between 1528 and 1531. They depict the famous Battle of Pavia, fought on 24 February 1525 between the French army, commanded by King Francis I of France, and the Imperial army of Emperor Charles V, composed mainly of Spanish infantry and German mercenaries, and led in the field by Fernando Francesco d'Avalos and Charles III, Duke of Bourbon. The battle ended in a decisive victory for Emperor Charles V’s forces, and King Francis I was taken prisoner.

The Computer Vision & Multimedia Laboratory (CVML) of the Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering of the University of Pavia, in collaboration with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, in the framework of the European project Advanced Computing for Innovation, was involved in the transposition of the tapestries into tactile images, enabling partially sighted and blind visitors to explore their content.

A tactile image is an object that can be explored with the fingertips. It represents elements in relief, can take different forms, and can be produced using various techniques. However, a simple raised reproduction of an image is not sufficient for tactile interpretation, especially when the subject is particularly complex and detailed. An image must be simplified before being translated into relief: it needs to be composed of clearly distinguishable areas and to convey the meaning of what is represented in a logically simplified form. Each component should be easily detectable and communicate the original message in an intelligible way.

See here an example of contour extraction and element identification for the tapestry “Sortie of the besieged and rout of the Swiss drowning in large numbers in the River Ticino”, depicting the city of Pavia in the background.



See here some examples of 3D printed tactile tiles.



See here an example of a coloured tactile tile, also suitable for people with low vision, along with some 3D reconstructions of figures and objects depicted in the tapestry.



Here is a movie on creating a 3D model of a 3-level tactile version of a tapestry.

---

Press review

"Battaglia di Pavia" e modelli in 3D / premiati gli studenti di Ingegneria, da la Provincia Pavese - 16 dicembre 2015

L’epica battaglia di Pavia ricostruita in 3D dagli studenti, da la Provincia Pavese - 12 dicembre 2015

Gli studenti visitano la mostra, da la Provincia Pavese - 22 ottobre 2015

Il FILO DELLA STORIA. Pavia, l’arte celebra la battaglia. Dagli arazzi ai condottieri in 3D, da Corriere della Sera - 11 ottobre 2015

Arazzi e viaggi multimediali: rivive l’epica battaglia di Pavia, da Corriere della Sera, La Lettura - 06 settembre 2015

Expo 2015: La Battaglia di Pavia secondo gli studenti di Virginio Cantoni, report in GIRPRNewsletter, Vol. 7, N. 1, pp.8-9 - luglio 2015

L’Università di Pavia ricostruisce in 3D l’arazzo della “Battaglia di Pavia”, filmato da UCampus Università di Pavia - luglio 2015

Pavia, la battaglia, il futuro. Niente fu come prima, filmato da Comune di Pavia - giugno 2015

Pavia, la battaglia che cambiò il modo di combattere, da Corriere della Sera - 21 giugno 2015

Dal 14 giugno al 15 novembre - 1525-2015 Pavia, la Battaglia, il Futuro. Niente fu come prima, da UNIPV.news - giugno 2015

UNIPV tra i protagonisti di EXPO 2015 nel workshop dedicato alla Battaglia di Pavia, da UNIPV.news - 26 maggio 2015