| |
Museums and Visitor Centers
California Science Center, Life Lab and Creative World Exhibits
INTERACTIVE DESIGN / PROGRAMMING / SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
The Digital Imaging exhibit displays manipulated digital photos of visitors' faces on a bank of 5 large
monitors
In the Digital Jam sound booth, three visitors play MIDI instruments under the direction of a video host.
As their performance is replayed, visitors can change the sounds of their instruments.
The Global Message Board uses multiple terminals and video cameras to display visitor messages on a large
5x7ft LED pixel board.
Seismic Measurement plots ground waves created by visitors jumping on a seismic platform.
Five computer workstations in Life Lab enable visitors to access CD-Rom titles or explore life science
websites on the Internet. (1997)
Strawberry Banke, Shapiro House Interpretive Systems
AUDIO/VISUAL SYSTEMS DESIGN AND INSTALLATION
In this restored historic home, audio/visual presentations installed invisibly in the dining room and parlor
recreate the weekly ritual of the Sabbath meal and tells stories of immigration and acculturation in early 20th
century America. (1997)
Museum of Labor and Culture, La Survivance Exhibits
AUDIO/VISUAL SYSTEMS DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION
These exhibits recreate the lives and experiences of French Canadian textile workers as they struggle to survive
and establish the labor movement in a Rhode Island mill town. (1997)
Libby Dam & Albeni Falls Visitor Centers, Control The Flow
INTERACTIVE DESIGN / PROGRAMMING
In this interactive simulation, visitors are given the opportunity to establish the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's
system operation policies for two dams located in the Northwest and see the consequences of their decisions. (1996)
The Columbus Museum, Legacy and Transformation Galleries
SYSTEM DESIGN / INSTALLATION
In the museum's existing Legacy Gallery, the history of Columbus, GA is brought to life with the addition of
a soundtrack and lighting effects. The children's art gallery, Transformations, was itself transformed into a modern
hands-on art center. (1996)
SportsLab, You Be the Judge Interactive Stadium
SYSTEMS DESIGN / INSTALLATION
- SportsLab is a participatory sports theme park which traveled throughout the country. In the interactive stadium,
visitors learn how judges score three Olympic events. After watching an athlete's performance on large projection
video screens, each of the 336 visitors scores the event. The audience's results are then compared to the actual
judges scores. (1995)
JFK Health World
SYSTEM SPECIFICATION / INSTALLATION
- JFK Health World is one of the largest (85,000 sq ft) and most technically advanced children's health education
centers in the country. The multimedia exhibits range in scale from desktop touchscreens to a simulated ride in
a full-size ambulance. (1995-96)
Alabama Power Company, The Water Course
DESIGNER / CONTENT DEVELOPER / INTEGRATOR
- Alabama Power Company, as steward and manager of three river systems, wants its customers to understand the
complexity of the company's river management activities, and the environmental impacts of industrial growth, lakeside
development and recreational uses of the waterways.
Highlights include a computerized wall of water jugs that shows personal water usage; an interactive video tour
that takes the visitor inside of a hydroelectric dam; a simulated helicopter flyover of the Alabama river system;
and an interactive gameshow. (1995)
SciTrek (Atlanta), Power Your Future, Smart Highway exhibit
DESIGNER / SYSTEMS SPECIFICATION / PROGRAMMER
- The Smart Highway exhibit places the visitor in the role of a traffic manager of the Atlanta interstate system
during the afternoon rush hour. Using information displayed on the computer console and video from roadside cameras,
the visitor must evaluate and respond to changing traffic conditions. (1994)
Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of American History
Science in American Life, Looking Ahead exhibits
SYSTEMS SPECIFICATION / INSTALLATION
- The Science in American Life exhibit looks at America's dependence on science since 1890. In the Looking
Ahead section, the focus is on biotechnology and the environment. The five interactive systems in this area
are networked to a "gateway" which enables the software to be remotely updated from Massachusetts. This
proved invaluable when the aggressive installation schedule did not allow for adequate visitor testing. The exhibits
were easily updated as problems were discovered and resolved. (1994)
Boston Museum of Science, The Big Dig
DESIGNER / SYSTEMS SPECIFICATION / INTEGRATOR
- This exhibit is about Boston's Central Artery / Tunnel Project, the largest highway construction project of
this decade. The semi-permanent installation includes audio/visual presentations on the history and differing opinions
of the project, and a simulated elevator ride into an excavation area. There visitors meet workers and view a 3-D
film showing the construction of the Third Harbor Tunnel. In the "hands-on" area, visitors use computer
workstations to help project employees solve typical engineering and construction problems. Artery Physics
enables visitors to experience the physical phenomenon associated with the construction. (1993)
Tennessee Valley Authority, Nuclear Information and Visitor Centers
DESIGNER / SYSTEMS PROGRAMMER / INTEGRATOR
- As TVA completes construction of three nuclear power plants, it wants to address local resident's concerns
regarding the safety and economics of nuclear power. Its three visitor centers contain fifteen interactive exhibits
which allow visitors to "talk-back" to the TVA. Each person receives a visitor card encoded with a serial
number. This card is used to activate each exhibit which, connected by a local area network, stores visitor responses
in a central database for later retrieval and analysis by the staff. Highlights include:
Sign In Please welcomes the visitor and collects demographic information.
The Energy Forum is a 35 person interactive theater which polls the audience's collective concerns about
nuclear power, energy issues and economic growth in the Tennessee Valley.
Safety First is an interactive video column of monitors where visitors hear from life-size TVA workers.
The Plant Tour enables the visitor to explore the insides of the nuclear plant via surrogate travel.
Along the way, visitors can meet TVA employees, hear about their jobs, and take an extended look around.
But What About... is a question and answer session moderated by the visitor. Members of the public ask
TVA spokespersons questions regarding nuclear issues.
An exit poll What Do You Think? invites visitors to tell TVA what they think about nuclear power and
the visitor center exhibits. (1992, 1994)
Peace River Films, Environmental Theater at Liberty Science Center
PROTOTYPE & VOTING SYSTEM DESIGN
- This sixty seat interactive theater uses numerous group exercises to teach visitors about the ecology of the
wetlands surrounding the museum. A proof-of-concept technology demonstration prototype of the voting system was
built in 1991.
New Bedford Whaling Museum, Whale Discovery Center
DESIGNER / PROGRAMMER/ INTEGRATOR
- Ask the Experts is a touchscreen videodisc kiosk. It allows visitors to first observe whale behavior,
guess what the whales are doing, and then learn, from one or more experts, what causes such behavior. Visitors
can also see more details about an expert's research.
The exhibit also contains two linear video presentations. Infra-red sensors start the presentations as the visitor
walks into the exhibit area. Closed captioning is available for all programs at the push of a button.
After a run of two years in Plymouth, MA, the exhibition was sold to the Camden Aquarium. Additional copies
of several exhibits were purchased by the Baltimore Aquarium. The exhibit is currently traveling around the country.
(1991, 1993)
Commonwealth Museum, By What Right...
DESIGNER / PROGRAMMER / INTEGRATOR
- This interactive theater commemorated the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. The presentation allowed multiple
viewers to "vote" on four constitutional issues. The voting results were then displayed and the decision
of the majority determined the outcome. (1987)
National Scouting Museum, Five Videodisc-Based Exhibits
DESIGNER / CO-PRODUCER / INTEGRATOR
- Murray is an electromechanical robot who interacts with up to five visitors, gives directions, sings,
does impressions and tells camping stories illustrated with slides displayed on his dual video monitors.
- In the Values Theater, a thirty person audience determines the outcome of an interactive drama based
on real-life applications of the Scout Law.
- Patrol Theater is an eight-player adventure game where the participants work together to locate a lost
child while applying their knowledge of Scoutcraft.
- The Way We Were features seventeen film clips from the BSA film archives. Visitors use a touchscreen
to make their selections.
- Talk Back is a public opinion poll. Visitors select a topic and register their initial opinions. Then
both sides of the issue are presented, with options to interrogate further. Upon completion, the visitor is again
asked for his or her opinion. Graphs display the "before and after" voting tabulations. (1986)
Michael Sand, Inc., Purposeful Pursuits
PROJECT DIRECTOR
- This traveling exhibit for the Boy Scouts used digitized video on multiple monitors to quiz the audience's
knowledge of scouting trivia. Viewers selected topics from one of five categories and three levels of difficulty.
A computer-controlled robot acted as the Master of Ceremonies. (1985)
Return to Table of Contents
|
