Museums of the future will let you 'touch' treasures BEHIND glass +Video

Some museums have to trap treasures behind dusty glass to protect them, which obscures many of the most interesting and intricate details.

But a new invention could give them a fresh lease of life.

Scientists have developed interactive semi-transparent mirrors that allow people to ‘touch’ objects using the reflection of their fingers. 

By tracking the movement of their hands, the mirrors use augmented reality to let visitors pick up and rotate the virtual objects - and reveal more information about certain items. 

To create the technology, computer scientists from the University of Bristol created a setup that involved sensors, projectors and semi-transparent mirrors placed in front of a pane of glass.

Using the sensors, the viewer's movements are tracked, while their reflection is mapped on a mirror inside.

As a finger's reflection lands on an object inside the glass, the artefact is illuminated and menu options appear using augmentation and the projectors.

Depending on the setup, an information box will pop up to show specific details about that object, or a 3D virtual model will appear in mid-air.

This model can then be rotated using hand gestures, to explore the artefact from every angle.  

The technology could also be used by doctors to project brain scans onto a patient’s body, and in airports as a new kind of security scanner that would reveal the location of hidden objects by showing their location on a person.

The researchers have unveiled their study at the ACM UIST conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

They claim their device could change the way people interact in public spaces, such as museums and shops.