The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is probably the most famous painting in Vienna, with over a million people viewing the masterpiece at the Belvedere Museum <br />https://www.belvedere.at/en each year. <br /><br /> The iconic image is now available to blind and visually impaired people thanks to a EU-funded project which has created a 3D relief version.<br /><br /> Dominika Raditsch was one of the first blind people to experience the touchable version of the painting. She lost her vision at age four due to a serious eye infection.<br /><br /> Dominika Raditsch, museum visitor:<br />“It’s somehow round. It’s entangled. It’s round. You can feel it. You can feel it, it comes with it. And in many places it’s so smooth. And then I think to myself: ‘It probably shines too!’ I can’t see it, but that’s what I think. It pretty much incites the imagination.”<br /><br /> Touching the relief recreates Klimt’s image in Dominika’s mind’s eye. Her fingers operate as a medium between the 3D reproduction and her brain.<br /><br /> Andreas Reichinger has been working on the touchable 3D reliefs project for five years now.<br /><br /> Andreas Reichinger, scientist and 3D relief creator:<br />“The Kiss so far was my most difficult exhibit. There are very figurative and physical parts. And on the other hand, there are these very flat and ornamental areas.”<br /><br /> The Belvedere Museum, in partnership with the EU-funded AMBAVis project (Access to Museums for Blind and Visually Impaired People), is now planning to provide an interactive audio guide for the blind.<br /><br /> Cameras and sensors will be used to ensure that the part of the relief that’s being touched will be explained.<br /><br /> The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of Klimt oil paintings.<br />
