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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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My suggestion is simple and inexpensive: peep-holes. (Or do Americans 
say 'peek-holes'? Sorry, I only speak English...)

It sounds like a visitor-engagement issue, not just about encouraging 
observation. The problem in a museum is there's so much to see. 
However 'impressive', if people can take in a diorama at a glance, 
they quickly walk past. That's why your 'shady' display with partly 
hidden animals worked so well.

Cover the entire front of the display with an opaque screen of some 
kind (maybe with a huge photographic habitat image), and make 
one-inch (25mm) diameter holes in the screen. Each hole should be 
close to a special feature in the diorama. Present it like a wildlife 
observation hide, with a sign telling visitors to keep quiet. A 
background voice recording should be spoken almost in an awesome 
whisper, with speakers close to the holes. Try to have the 
surrounding area as quiet as possible with minimal distracting noise.

I once saw a picture of an unexpectedly successful promotional 
multimedia display in the middle of a busy shopping street. The 
designer had struggled with the problem of bright daylight on his 
screens, so he'd mounted them inside a huge, ugly, steel shipping 
container and drilled little viewing holes all around the sides. The 
street was jammed with people stopping to look through the holes.


[log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
*
Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
*
Ian Russell 

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