Rochester Institute of Technology students are using a new technology to capture an old experience. Their virtual reality app simulates printing on a 19th-century cast iron hand-press that once belonged to British designer William Morris.

This screenshot from RIT’s VR historical printing press introduces users to the pressroom.

The 19th-century Printing Press Experience VR is free on Steam, a digital distribution platform, where users can purchase, download, and play video games. The app teaches students, scholars, and anyone interested in printing history and graphic design to print on the digital “twin” of the Kelmscott/Goudy Albion printing press housed at the Cary Graphic Arts Collection at RIT.

The Cary Collection curator, Steven Galbraith, sees a growing role for virtual reality technology in libraries and museums.

“Simulating a rare artifact like the Kelmscott/Goudy Press helps expand teaching and research possibilities to more people,” Galbraith said. “It triggers imagination and curiosity.”

The Kelmscott/Goudy Albion printing press draws visitors from around the world to the Cary Collection, Galbraith said. People travel to see the 1891 press owned by Morris, a leader of the British Arts and Crafts movement and founder of the Kelmscott Press. Frederic Goudy, an American type designer and typographer, later acquired the press and shipped it to New York. (The Cary Graphic Arts Collection also includes The Frederic W. Goudy Collection.)

Students and faculty from RIT’s 3D digital design program gamified the hand press using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, a 3D graphics software tool for use with HTC Vives Virtual Reality hardware.

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