Visual Acuity Advises on New Tour for Mummy: The Inside Story

Visual Acuity, the independent technology and media consultancy, is again working with The British Museum on a new version of its international touring exhibition entitled Mummy: the Inside Story -- Secrets of the Tomb. This tour's first venue, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, in Richmond, Virginia, will display a 3D experience around one of the Museum's most intriguing ancient artifacts: the mummy of Nesperennub.

Visual Acuity provided independent technology advisory services to The British Museum on this project during a previous tour and has once again been contracted to advise on a second tour of this unique exhibition.

For this new tour, The British Museum deployed advanced 3D imaging technologies to reveal the secrets inside the mummy of Nesperennub -- an ancient Egyptian priest who died in approximately 800 BC, using non-invasive x-ray and computerized tomography (CT) scanning techniques to look inside the mummy without disturbing its wrappings.

The experiment provided a unique insight into the complex mummification process and Nesperennub's life in ancient Egypt, while also allowing museum staff to reconstruct his facial features. Visual Acuity was then engaged to advise on a 3D theatre display, which would allow visitors to see graphic visualizations of the mummy's face and skeleton, despite the fact that they remained encased within his coffin.

Blair Parkin, managing director at Visual Acuity, recalls: "We have used the most advanced projection and display technologies to show graphic representations of the outer coffin, the cartonnage case that sits inside it and actually holds Nesperennub's remains, the skeleton and the jewellery with which the body was adorned prior to embalming and, most strikingly, a very detailed representation of his face."

The mummy -- still intact -- is making a transatlantic journey to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for an exhibition spanning four months. Teams from both museums are working on creating a new display, using the latest 3D projection technology to create an even deeper and more realistic experience for visitors.

"We are delighted to be working with Visual Acuity again on this unique exhibition," comments Amanda Mayne, international engagement manager at The British Museum, which is loaning the mummy, along with 100 other artifacts, to Richmond. "As consultants they don't just deliver the right technology solution -- they really understand the project and provide aesthetic and architectural guidance as well."

The exhibition runs at the musem through March 11. The show is narrated by Patrick Stewart and covers many new discoveries unseen to the visiting public before now.