Pupils from two Taunton schools have been getting to grips with ancient artefacts and state of the art technology in Taunton Library’s Glass Box.

Somerset County Council’s Library Service teamed up with South West Heritage to run sessions for children from Bishop Fox’s school and St George’s RC Primary School as part of the BBC Civilisations Project.

They were given a range of heritage objects to scan digitally using 3D scanners, including the innovative Sprout Pro by HP which is on loan from HP as part of a 6-month pilot project.

Councillor David Hall, Cabinet Member for Resources and Economic Development, said: “The Glass Box is about fostering innovation and developing digital skills that will have a long-term benefit for the county’s economy and this is a great example of it in action.

“It’s shows how we’re using our library spaces in different ways and reaching new audiences of all ages and it is exciting to see how it is capturing people’s imaginations.”

The Glass Box is a digital skills hub that aims to give schools, colleges, businesses and other groups access to cutting edge technology and inspire the next generation of digital entrepreneurs and innovators.

Pupils were also given an overview of some of the exciting equipment that it has on offer such as Robotics, interactive drones, 3D Printing and coding.

“We brought 18 children over to the Glass Box at Taunton Library and their reaction to the challenges presented has been amazing,” said Veronica Price from St Georges RC Primary School.

“They thoroughly enjoyed learning about the different objects from our past and exploring the exciting 3D technology and we would love to be involved in creating a virtual reality experience, using the scans the children have made.”

John French, Learning Officer from SW Heritage Trust, said: “We were delighted to work with Somerset Libraries to showcase some of our important and fascinating objects from the past and with the involvement from these enthusiastic students, we have been able to capture some of these objects digitally for posterity.

“One particularly good example was the digital 3D image that we now have of the Alfred Jewel replica, whereby we can now make a 3D printed replica of a 100 year old replica of a 1000 year old object of national significance.”