Earlier this month, Carveco unveiled its new suite of AI-powered tools, designed to make creative manufacturing faster, more accessible, and more intuitive. It contains two new tools aimed to assist designers when creating 3D designs – Text to Relief and Image to Relief.
Text to Relief provides the ability to convert a text prompt into a 3D relief model in seconds using generative design. Image to Relief utilises AI technology to convert photographs or artwork into detailed bas reliefs.
Managing Director, Robert Newman, emphasises that these new AI tools are intended to assist, not replace, designers in creating detailed relief. As he has previously detailed (see CMN’s review of both the World Money Fair and Mint Director Conference earlier this year), AI is not, and should not, be a replacement for the skilled designers who develop these intricate designs and provide that allimportant human oversight and storytelling to minting.
The merging of new AI technology and that human element was highlighted at Carveco’s ‘Touch: Beyond Vision’ event, held in London earlier this month. The company’s AI-powered Image to Relief tool transformed photographs and artwork into tactile experiences for blind and visually impaired audiences. The exhibition of tactile artwork reimagined how we experience art through touch. It aimed to underline the importance of accessibility in design, encouraging broader consideration of how visual experiences can be adapted for different audiences.
The collection included pieces representing well-known musicians (such as the Beatles), landmarks (such as the Angel of the North statue in Newcastle or the ‘Gherkin’ building in London), historical figures (such as Winston Churchill), artworks, and icons (such as Dame Judi Dench and Sir David Attenborough).
The creation of these pieces was inspired by the process used by mints when developing relief designs via plaster models.
A mural wall also displayed artworks featuring personal photographs contributed by members of the blind and visually impaired community, including wedding photographs and a guide dog, made touchable through 3D printing.
The Touch: Beyond Vision event not only showcased the importance of accessibility in art and design but also provided an insight into the real-world – and in this case, emotive – impact that companies in our industry can have by applying modern technology to new projects.
