Physical Analytics Technology, developed by IBM, is being tested at
The Cloisters Museum and Gardens, the Met's facility in Upper Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park devoted to medieval European art and architecture. The stone building, a world-renowned repository of some 3,000 paintings, sculptures, metal objects, illuminated manuscripts, textiles and stained-glass windows, is subject to seasonal fluctuations in temperature, relative humidity, air flow, contamination and light levels. Constant variations in climate make the Hudson River location an ideal setting for the MMA/IBM pilot project.
IBM's unique wireless sensor network, deployed throughout The Cloisters, will provide details about the structure’s hydrodynamic conditions and other environmental factors. Real-time reports from the project's 100 monitors, analyzed by members of the Met’s Department of Scientific Research, will help art conservators, curators and other experts determine how and under what conditions objects are to be displayed and stored.
If all goes well, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will continue to implement IBM’s Physical Analytics Technology in its Main Building's galleries on Fifth Avenue.