3D-Printed Tents Bring Hands-On Learning to Witness to Revolution Exhibit for Guests with Visual Disabilities

General George Washington’s headquarters tent from the Revolutionary War is the “crown jewel” in the Museum’s collection, the centerpiece of the award-winning Washington’s War Tent presentation, and the subject of our 2024-25 special exhibition, Witness to Revolution: The Unlikely Travels of Washington’s Tent.

It's part of a suite of tents that traveled with George Washington and the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. In addition to the sleeping and office tent, Washington also travelled with a large dining tent, a baggage tent, and smaller tents for common soldiers.

In Witness to Revolution, we faced the challenge of interpreting and translating these massive objects used outdoors within a 5,000-square-foot exhibition space. And how could we make such an experience accessible to guests with visual disabilities? To make the tents more accessible, the Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired created 3D-printed touchable scale models of each tent from photographs and measurements.

“Smaller items can be scanned, but the tents at the Museum are large and, in this case, were designed from photos and measurements provided by exhibit staff,” Samuel Foulkes, Clovernook’s Director of Braille Production and Accessible Innovation, said. “[We wanted to] design a model to be used for the representation of an object that cannot be handled and follows the size and shape as closely as possible, while also exaggerating parts to a point that they are viewable but do not distract from the form of the object.

“The biggest difficulty when working with models that are large and cannot be handled is getting the proportions correct enough that it will read as the object you are trying to portray. In this situation, either having pictures with an object of a known dimension or having a team of experts in handling these objects gather measurements make it a lot easier.”

It may sound counterintuitive: the 3D-printed tents are not exact models. They’re scale models with certain elements accentuated or de-emphasized to properly interpret the original object for a guest with visual disabilities. Without that interpretation, the details of the original object may not be noticeable in the model.

“The seam draped between the top and bottom sections of the dining tent is a good example, as it needed a bit more padding than what was actually there to properly distinguish it from the rest of the model,” Foulkes said of where the tent’s roof panel meets and overlaps with the wall panel. “Sometimes you may also need to capture more organic shapes, like the draping of the common soldiers' tent, which can be done with animation tools.”

While 3D-printing technology may be relatively new, Clovernook’s work to make the world more accessible to people with visual disabilities has been ongoing for more than a century. Since 1903, the Cincinnati-based Clovernook has provided life-enriching opportunities while empowering people who are blind or have low vision to be self-sufficient and full participants in their communities. The Museum has worked with Clovernook in recent years to produce tactile versions of paintings in the Museum’s core galleries as well as the 2021-22 special exhibition, Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War. Clovernook has even allowed for the .STL file for Washington’s headquarters tent to be publicly available to download for free for anyone with access to a 3D printer.

The process of creating the 3D-printed tents required a complicated series of steps using basic geometry, physics, Boolean algebra, special computer-aided design (CAD) software, animation programs, and simulations. But even the most thorough process and scientifically backed product is only as good as how it’s ultimately used. Directly embedding tactile learning into a museum exhibition, instead of solely relying on on-demand requests, is important to creating a welcoming learning environment for guests with visual disabilities. The 3D-printed tents are displayed as part of the Witness to Revolution exhibit and accompanied by Braille descriptions.

 “Historically, people who are blind or have low vision have been excluded from cultural spaces,” Foulkes said. “Today, museums usually only have a small portion of their exhibits accessible, and often these accessibility features are only available on request or during particular programs.

“Through the installation of these tactile pieces directly in the space, the museum is allowing people to explore the tent structures in a tactile way, independently, and not on special request. With these models, people who are blind or have low vision can be full participants in the exhibit, and gain access to something that was previously only a visual experience.”

Better still, engaging museum guests through a variety of sensory experiences creates a well-rounded, more immersive learning experience for all guests, not just people with visual disabilities.

“Making the Museum, or any museum, more accessible helps open doors to people who haven’t traditionally been thought of in the narrative of visitation,” said Meg Bowersox, the Museum’s Manager of Gallery Interpretation. “When museums incorporate accessibility into their designs, it's not just that community who benefits, it’s everyone. By providing programming, tours, and graphics for people who are blind, we provide an experience that can help to provide more clarity and empathy for the Revolution.”

“Tactile exploration is also a valuable and informative experience for people who are not blind or have low vision, and we hope and advocate for more installations of accessible materials directly within exhibit spaces,” Foulkes said.

Witness to Revolution: The Unlikely Travels of Washington’s Tent, which was open Feb. 17, 2024, through Jan. 5, 2025, brought to life the stories of individuals from all walks of life who saved Washington’s tent and fashioned this relic into a symbol of the fragile American republic.