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Date: | Tue, 16 Jan 2007 11:29:10 +0000 |
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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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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
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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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