Digital Tools: A Threat or Craft Ally?

The extent to which digital tools can contribute to and transform the crafts sector remains a subject of ongoing debate. While some view digital integration as a threat to authenticity and traditional know-how, the Craeft project is built on a different philosophy.

Craeft is exploring how technology can strengthen the entire craft ecosystem.

Through its core objectives, education, design, and valorisation, the project demonstrates that advanced technologies can extend the artisan’s reach without replacing their hands. Digital tools cannot substitute the in-person transmission of skills nor the process of shaping materials through practice. However, they can open new possibilities, such as connecting artisans with wider audiences, raising awareness about the cultural and environmental value of craftsmanship, overcoming some of the learning barriers, supporting self-improvement, and positioning crafts more competitively within contemporary markets.

Digital tool as a means to raise consumer awareness

Digital contextualisation tool is a simple yet effective tool for artisans to communicate directly with their customers. Built on material culture studies, circular economy principles, and advanced technologies from the Mingei project, such as object recognition and Product biography information systems, this tool creates digital craft biographies.

Through a simple online form, craft professionals can generate structured stories about their objects, including:

Historical third-person descriptions
AI-generated first-person object biographies
Sound narratives
Videos of the making processes
Automatic translations

These stories are linked to QR codes, making them easy to integrate into websites, exhibitions, and marketing materials.

The tool allows craftspeople to raise consumer awareness regarding the true value of their objects by transparently detailing the "how it is made" story, including materials, techniques, and the specific cultural or personal narrative embedded in the work. Fostering this deeper appreciation for quality, the tool helps shift purchasing habits away from mass consumerism and toward meaningful, valued, and quality work.

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Can e-learning platforms and Virtual Reality (VR) support the highly tactile process of craft transmission?

The Craeft project tested this question with two applications - at the CERFAV Glass School and the Aubusson Tapestry School in France.

At CERFAV, the e-learning modules on the Moodle platform were developed to support students with some basic preparatory knowledge before entering the glassblowing workshop. Initial trials showed the e-learning platform was well accepted and highly valued as a complementary tool. Simultaneously, a VR glassblowing simulator was tested. Students viewed the VR tool as a good discovery tool, though they expressed high additional expectations for increased realism and precision. An e-learning platform and VR were created not to replace the essential on-site workshop learning process, but rather to help reduce accidents by equipping the students with the basic knowledge before stepping into the workshop, and potentially reduce the material usage.

Testing the VR application in Cerfav.

More about the VR Glassblowing

On the other hand, the e-learning modules for the Aubusson Tapestry demonstrated a totally different use. An e-learning platform was proven to be seen as a tool that provides detailed curriculum insight to help future students assess their readiness for the highly selective course (only 15 new learners every two years). Crucially, this tool also makes the exclusive, historically French-only tapestry knowledge available to an English-speaking audience for the first time, significantly broadening the craft's reach.

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Additionally, the simple technological tool of a head-mounted camera has proven to be of particular interest to craft educators. This head camera allows for egocentric recording, which enables self-reflection and self-improvement. Much like dancers use a mirror for instant feedback, craft professionals can benefit by viewing their own recordings of the gestures and body posture used during the crafting process. Moreover, the tool has added value when applied to peer reflection, as peers can help influence improvement by reviewing and commenting on each other's egocentric videos.

Digital rendering of glaze

In Craeft, light becomes a material of study. Using advanced rendering techniques — Physically based rendering (PBR) — we explore how glazes, the thin, glassy skin of ceramics, can be digitally modelled with the same depth and luminosity that artisans see in their work. Glazes challenge even the most advanced digitisation tools as their reflections, transparency, and colour depth resist flattening.

Split image showing a computer interface for virtual glazing on the left and a male artisan hand-applying glaze to a ceramic bowl on the right, illustrating the link between digital simulation and manual craft practice.

Discover what we achieved

CRAEFT has launched its first podcast series!

The six-episode edition, developed in collaboration with Cerfav, explores the paths and personal journeys of Cerfav students and what led them to become glass professionals. The first episode, “Motivation,” reveals how an early childhood memory or a complete professional reskilling after 18 years in industry can spark a new creative vocation.

Listen to the inspiring stories of Cerfav students and discover how glass — its transformation and ability to capture light — becomes a true professional calling.

Cerfav students, Bruno Maximilien-François (left, top), Giovanni Lombardi (right, top), Paul Demeilliers (left, down) and Marie Blondeau (right, down).

Meet Bruno, Marie, Paul, and Giovanni and discover what motivated them to become glass masters

Beyond CRAEFT

PodCraft: Learning from the voices of craft-makers

The Horizon Europe project Hephaestus, partner of Craeft in the CRAFTOUR initiative, explores innovative lifelong learning methods for the craft sector through PodCraft: Stories and skills from the world of craft-making. Developed by researchers Marta Gasparin (Copenhagen Business School), Francesca Leonardi, and Luca Pareschi (University of Rome Tor Vergata), the podcast bridges the worlds of artisans and academics by transforming learning into an accessible and engaging audio experience.

Craft dedicated PODCASTs:

3D printing technologies and ceramics

During the BRICKS project’s study visit to Florence, participants visited the Scuola di Ceramica di Montelupo, where educators emphasised the importance of connecting tradition with innovation. At the school, 3D printing technologies, plaster moulding techniques, and digital modelling have been incorporated into several programmes. These tools are not designed to replace manual craftsmanship, but rather to complement and enrich it, an approach that reflects the school’s wider vision for sustainable craft development.

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Digital tools and the construction/reconstruction of heritage places

A good example of how digital tools can support traditional craftsmanship is the ongoing construction of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona.

The cathedral’s complex shapes, designed by Antoni Gaudí, are now being constructed with the help of 3D printing and digital models. These tools help stone masters understand and reproduce complex architectural details more easily, allowing them to test and adjust forms before carving them in stone. Instead of replacing manual skills, technology assists masters in working with greater precision, ensuring that Gaudí’s vision is fully respected and turned into reality, while the materials are used efficiently and sustainably, minimising waste and errors.

Another remarkable collaboration between craft masters and digital tools is the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris following the 2019 fire.

Stone carvers, carpenters, and glass professionals have worked alongside researchers from Sorbonne University’s “Decor” group, who use 3D scanning and photogrammetry to analyse and document the cathedral’s architecture and decor. Platforms like Plemo 3D and BIM (Building Information Modeling) modelling enable artisans to recreate lost elements with precision and understand how each piece integrates into the larger structure. Combined with 3D-printed prototypes, these tools support careful planning, reduce errors, and minimise material waste, ensuring the precise and efficient application of traditional craftsmanship to restore this world heritage site.