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Eugene
I would consider the use of digital technology in the "Spectrum of Life" at the
American Museum of Natural History to be influential. This dramatic and visually
appealing exhibit works because of the computer stations that the visitors uses
for identification of species. I often reference it when discussing the
successful use of technology in museums. It is certainly influential in the
application of technology. Whether it is influential in the broader exhibition
field outside of technology is another question.
Brewster
Brewster Buttfield
Prospect Design
424 Fore Street
Portland, Maine 04101
207-749-7400
[log in to unmask]
www.prospectdesign.me
----- Original Message ----
From: Eugene Dillenburg <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, January 13, 2011 10:56:32 AM
Subject: [ISEN-ASTC-L] Influential uses of digital technology in exhibits?
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Please excuse any cross-postings.
I started teaching my Exhibits class this week and, as always, I gave the
students a brief history of exhibits, borrowing heavily from Marjorie
Schwarzer's chapter on "Twelve Influential Exhibits" in the AAM centennial
book. She lists Carl Akeley's dioramas, the coal mine at MSI, the Holocaust
Museum, and others as exhibits that have had a broad impact on the field at
large.
During the discussion afterward, one student asked if there were any
technology-based exhibits that were also considered influential. I thought of
Science on a Sphere, which is popping up in several science centers, and the
AMNH biodiversity hall which has a computerized ID system that has received a
lot of attention. But for the most part, no, and I came up with three reasons:
1) Digital technology simply hasn't been around long enough to for any
individual application to impact the field in the same way that the
Exploratorium model or Mathematica have;
2) Digital technology changes so rapidly that, even if there was something with
the potential to create such an impact, it would be out of date in a few years;
and
3) Exhibits have such long lead times, and tight budgets, that they cannot
easily incorporate cutting-edge technology. (I suppose that's a summary of
points 1 & 2).
However, I have been wrong before, so I thought I'd put the question out there:
have there been any exhibits whose use of digital technology has had a wide
influence on the exhibit field?
Thanks,
Eugene Dillenburg
Exhibit Developer, Science Museum of Minnesota
Assistant Professor and "Scholar," Michigan State University
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