A digital archiving project to exchange high-resolution images of museum artefacts around the world has been set up at an international symposium in East London.

The symposium run by the University of East London attracted some of the most influential names in the world of digital archiving.

The project creates a mobile facility for scanning and exhibiting fragile museum artefacts, letting museums throughout the world exchange digital displays of their priceless exhibits.

The Hokusai scanner developed in Japan is said to be fast with extremely high resolution, using combinations of light which minimise scanning time and exposure for delicate objects which can be damaged by bright light.

The East London campus has already worked with the Science Museum’s archives and now has projects planned with the Wallace Collection to digitise rare 16th century waxworks and with Dulwich Picture Gallery.