A Digital Approach to Tracing Technolgical Innovation in Ship Design

This project pilots the use of digital tools for the study of the evolution of technological advances. It takes as a case study the evolution of ship design in the British Admiralty’s Feet in the period 1650- 1850. This period is especially well-known for technological innovations in naval technology. By combining 3D scans and engineering techniques, this project opens new understandings of the design innovations that defined global history in the long eighteenth century.

This pilot project team consists of: Lisandra (Lia) Costiner (project lead, Art Historian and Digital Humanities specialist, University of Oxford), Giovanni Pala (Historian and Digital Humanist, University of Oxford), Dr Gian Maria Santi (Engineer and Junior Assistant Professor, University of Bologna), Dr Neil Sanghvi (Naval Historian), Richard Smith (3D Modelling and New Technologies Specialist, University of Oxford). The project is kindly supported by the Oxford X-Reality Hub.