Lord Kelvin enters the metaverse for 200th anniversary

The virtual exhibition showcases items from The Hunterian, the oldest public museum in Scotland. It features a series of digitised scientific instruments and artefacts related to Kelvin's work at the University of Glasgow, many of which are not normally on public display.

Items on display include sections of submarine telegraph cable from the era of the first transatlantic communications, highlighting Kelvin’s key role in the development of the world’s first transatlantic telegraph cable. Visitors can also see two versions of the mirror galvanometer, developed by Kelvin to help carry telegraph signals across long-distance cables. Born in 1824 in Belfast as William Thomson, Kelvin is widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest ever scientists and engineers.

The exhibition is the latest development in the £5.6m Museums in the Metaverse project, led by Glasgow University, which is digitising assets from cultural collections around the world to make them available in virtual reality form online.