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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For me, the programmatic highlight of the ASTC meeting were the PIE
(Playful Invention and Exploration, I think it stands for) workshops and
open houses.  The PIE network is a bunch of museums, including
Exploratorium, SMM, the Lemuelson center, Ft Worth, MIT Museum, and a
few others, along with Mitch Resnick, Diane Willow, Natalie Rusk at the
Media Lab.

The way it looks to me, the PIE network is developing a kind of model
for open ended exploration in spaces on or adjacent to exhibition
floors.  They modeled this in a couple of workshops and in an open house
which were both thought-provoking and fun.  To me, the strength of these
programs are their focus on creativity, and creating spaces and program
models to foster open-ended exploration.  I also like the fact that
these programs can be adapted to a range of different program modes,
such as school workshops, family events, teacher workshops, or drop in
programming.  I am a bit more ambivalent about their technology focus,
which is pretty much centered on the use of the Media Lab developed
"crickets."  The more I learned about crickets, the more I liked them as
a tool. The PIE people have developed (and will be marketing) a cricket
software/hardware system that seems like a good extension of Mindstorms.

But at the same time, I think a lot of work could be done to incorporate
different and more general purpose technology tools (digital video,
audio, microscopy, gps) into these kinds of experiences, and to
strengthen their connections with specific science or technology
learning.  If it sounds like a grant proposal, well, that's because we
just submitted an NSF proposal (yesterday!) to support a program called
the Digital Discovery Lab to do just that.

But all in all, I really liked the spirit of the PIE program and their
commitment to engaging lots of different folks at ASTC. They have an
excellent web site at www.pienetwork.org.

On the exhibit side, the most interesting thing to me were all the
curved surface projection technologies that were demonstrated in the
exhibit hall.  If I get any of this wrong, or leave anything out, I am
asking the manufacturers not to jump down my throat, as this is my best
understanding.  As I learned a while back, manufacturers do read this
list...

Projecting onto a sphere or a curved surface presents some technical
challenges, but the results can be pretty awesome, or pretty
disappointing.  On the latter end, the curved dome IMAX that I saw "the
Sacred Earth" had all kinds of technical problems relating to the
curvature of the projection (trees looked like arches) though I was told
that their underwater volcanoes film was great.

At one end of the exhibit floor, three groups were presenting three
different approaches to projecting onto a sphere.  The most beautiful of
these was the NOAA project, which was using time series data and
animations to show things ranging from dynamic weather systems to plate
techtonics.  Absolutely stunning graphics, very dramatic presentation
which benefitted tremendously from expert narrators.  They are looking
for museum partners, I know, and for those with the money and space, it
will be a killer experience for visitors.  The images are projected onto
a huge (maybe 14'? Diameter) sphere from three or four external
projectors.

Arcscience was doing another presentation, which was also pretty
impressive, showing several different projections on a sphere that was a
bit smaller.  The image was not as bright, I don't think, but it was
still very good.  Again, this is expensive technology (tho somewhat less
expensive than the NOAA system), but it could be great for the right
application.

I was most interested in two new developments.  One is a company called
"Global Imagination" that has a very cool, self contained system that
can project any video (without any preparation, as far as I understand
it) onto a sphere from inside.  This really is pretty magical, as the
two other systems require that the data be either created or displayed
using proprietary software [this is where I am a bit unclear, so please,
Arscience and NOAA, let me know *off list* if I misunderstood!].  In any
case, Global Imagination uses very clever optics.  The display system
seemed a bit less bright and lower res than the others, but it was MUCH
less expensive.  I really liked this setup.

Finally, there was a company whose name someone else will remember, that
had very nice technology for adapting any video source to a curved
screen without distortion.  This was done through a compact
software/hardware box that took normal video in and sent an image to a
regular projector that would project onto a curved screen.  It was quite
reasonably priced, as these things go.

Finally, I had a great time off site at a museum called the Mill City
Museum, which has a wonderful multimedia experience based in a freight
elevator.  There is a web site that will tell you more
http://www.millcitymuseum.org

As always, the best thing about these conferences were the informal
gatherings. ASTC and the Science Museum of Minnesota deserve
congratulations for arranging the conference to offer as many
opportunities for kibbitzing as possible.  I particularly was glad that
the sit down banquet was replaced by a buffet on the exhibition floor.
That was a good call!


Eric Siegel
Director of Planning
   & Program Development
Connections Project Director
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368
[log in to unmask]
www.nyscience.org

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