NEW YORK (Sputnik) — New technology has been installed at the only museum in the United States that solely features Russian icons, Museum of Russian Icons curator and CEO Kent Russell told Sputnik on Monday.
"For people who have limited visual ability… reading and looking at icons is very difficult," Russell said. "This technology allows the visitor get audio information about the iconic description."
The new technology is in the form of a stand that allows visitors to use their phones to virtually access various visual and audio accessibility features.
Due to the vast details contained in exhibited icons, Russell explained, the technology allows visitors with visual disabilities to get the most out of the experience.
"Icons, and specifically Russian icons, are typically chockfull of tiny details, so you have to have very good eyesight to fully appreciate the icon looking at it just with your eyes," Russell said.
Expenses and installation were paid by the Memorial Foundation for the Blind as part of a gift to the museum.
The Russian Icon Museum was founded in 2006 in Clinton, Massachusetts as a non-profit educational institution to enhance relations between Russia and the United States through art, according to the museum’s website.
Exhibiting more than 1,000 Russian icons, the Museum is one of the largest collections of such icons outside of Russia.
