Bill Endres, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of English, Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences and emerging technologies librarians in the University Libraries are working to scan the St Chad Gospels, a medieval illuminated manuscript.
“Illuminated manuscripts date back to the Byzantine Empire when they would use gold in manuscripts to make them shine,” Endres said. “This would give the pages a sense of otherworldliness and would emulate the divine light and divine wisdom within the words of the manuscript.”
Emerging technologies librarian, Kristi Wyatt, traveled with Enders to Lichfield Cathedral in Lichfield, England, in Oct. 2022 to scan the pages of the 8th century text. The pair worked to capture twelve of the manuscript’s most significant surviving pages before they deteriorated further using 3D scanning and photogrammetry.
With assistance from Bobby Reed, head of OU Libraries emerging technology program, the team has now developed a beta 3D experience of the St Chad Gospels. The 3D model includes six two-page spreads of text and illuminations positioned on a virtual table. Users can interact with the pages using virtual reality headsets.
“The next step that I hope to bring to this project is incorporating haptics into the experience,” Endres said. “Iron gall ink actually etches into the parchment and layered pigments create raised declarations. So, with the right scanning technology, users could actually feel the letters and the raised pigments in the illuminated manuscript.”
Learn more about the emerging technologies program at OU and access the open-source 3D scans of the St Chad Gospels captured by Endres and Wyatt.
