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Hello James
I've seen some examples where the thermal grill (interwoven hot and cold
surfaces) is presented as coils, while others use flat panels, so people
place their palms flat on the metal plate (similar to the way people
touch a hand battery exhibit), rather than grabbing a bar of coils. 
I imagine some places have also made the flat metal plates in the shape
of a hand to give an instructional clue to visitors. We coloured the hot
coil elements red and the cold coil elements blue on our version, to
give an added clue about the temperatures. 
Many research articles have been published about the thermal grill
illusion, as researchers continue to investigate how/why the illusion
occurs. It may be worth a look through their methods to see how they
built their apparatus and working out how you could adapt that to a
gallery environment. 
Regards
Cindy Chambers
Questacon, Canberra Australia

-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Sannino
Sent: Wednesday, 14 July 2010 1:17 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: thermal grill illusion device

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
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Hello all,

My name is James Sannino.  I'm helping develop prototypes for an
upcoming brain exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. 
We're looking to get a device that shows the "thermal grill illusion."

I've only been able to find evidence for such a device at the
Exploratorium, but I hear word there are more strewn about.
We're looking to figure out what the best interface would be from a
visitor's point of view. 
If you're facility has one, I'd love to hear about it!
How your machine is designed, what you like about it, how you might have
improved it, that sort of thing...

Thanks!
James
The Franklin Institute
[log in to unmask]
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