Open Forum

We've heard that "Magic Spheres," independent of content, do well as docent-led activities, but do not hold people's attention as stand-alone, unattended exhibits.  Does this match with others' experience?

------------------------------
Lawrence Rudnick
Bell Museum of Natural History /Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics

- University of Minnesota
Minneapolis MN
------------------------------

Hello Larry,

We have three projection spheres in our "Dinosaurs in their Time" exhibition that are not effective for three reasons:

1- The environment is too bright for the spheres to display well (I believe that there are brighter projectors now than there were in 2007 but, even so, these spheres should probably be implemented in a very dark environment).

2- Ours are not interactive in any way. (I think that if visitors could touch the sphere and make things happen, they would definitely be intrigued, but I don't know whether today's spheres have that capability).

3- The animation we have is not eye-catching or informative on its own - this was an issue more with the design of our program and less to do with the sphere itself.

I certainly cannot verify my intuition, but if the spheres were bright, interactive (touchable, game?), and the program was visually dynamic, I imagine they would be useful to docents and also attractive to visitors.  However, you should wait for feedback from someone who has a sphere that is all three: bright; interactive; and dynamic; to verify whether casual visitors use them in the best possible circumstance. (I wonder if there are any that are all three!)

As part of your thinking, inquire into multi-user touch-walls or touch-tables as well. Since visitors intuitively understand these types of screens (they behave a lot like web-enabled phones), and the screens themselves are so responsively tactile, my observations lead me to believe that visitors find them very engaging. Good luck!

------------------------------
Rebecca Shreckengast
Director of Exhibit Experience
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh PA
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-27-2015 06:50 AM
From: Larry Rudnick
Subject: Magic Spheres

We've heard that "Magic Spheres," independent of content, do well as docent-led activities, but do not hold people's attention as stand-alone, unattended exhibits.  Does this match with others' experience?

------------------------------
Lawrence Rudnick
Bell Museum of Natural History /Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics

- University of Minnesota
Minneapolis MN
------------------------------

I find that projection rarely works well.  Because to interact with it you get in the way of the light.

Hello Larry,

We have three projection spheres in our "Dinosaurs in their Time" exhibition that are not effective for three reasons:

1- The environment is too bright for the spheres to display well (I believe that there are brighter projectors now than there were in 2007 but, even so, these spheres should probably be implemented in a very dark environment).

2- Ours are not interactive in any way. (I think that if visitors could touch the sphere and make things happen, they would definitely be intrigued, but I don't know whether today's spheres have that capability).

3- The animation we have is not eye-catching or informative on its own - this was an issue more with the design of our program and less to do with the sphere itself.

I certainly cannot verify my intuition, but if the spheres were bright, interactive (touchable, game?), and the program was visually dynamic, I imagine they would be useful to docents and also attractive to visitors.  However, you should wait for feedback from someone who has a sphere that is all three: bright; interactive; and dynamic; to verify whether casual visitors use them in the best possible circumstance. (I wonder if there are any that are all three!)

As part of your thinking, inquire into multi-user touch-walls or touch-tables as well. Since visitors intuitively understand these types of screens (they behave a lot like web-enabled phones), and the screens themselves are so responsively tactile, my observations lead me to believe that visitors find them very engaging. Good luck!

------------------------------
Rebecca Shreckengast
Director of Exhibit Experience
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh PA
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-27-2015 06:50 AM
From: Larry Rudnick
Subject: Magic Spheres

We've heard that "Magic Spheres," independent of content, do well as docent-led activities, but do not hold people's attention as stand-alone, unattended exhibits.  Does this match with others' experience?

------------------------------
Lawrence Rudnick
Bell Museum of Natural History /Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics

- University of Minnesota
Minneapolis MN
------------------------------

Hello Larry,

We have three projection spheres in our "Dinosaurs in their Time" exhibition that are not effective for three reasons:

1- The environment is too bright for the spheres to display well (I believe that there are brighter projectors now than there were in 2007 but, even so, these spheres should probably be implemented in a very dark environment).

2- Ours are not interactive in any way. (I think that if visitors could touch the sphere and make things happen, they would definitely be intrigued, but I don't know whether today's spheres have that capability).

3- The animation we have is not eye-catching or informative on its own - this was an issue more with the design of our program and less to do with the sphere itself.

I certainly cannot verify my intuition, but if the spheres were bright, interactive (touchable, game?), and the program was visually dynamic, I imagine they would be useful to docents and also attractive to visitors.  However, you should wait for feedback from someone who has a sphere that is all three: bright; interactive; and dynamic; to verify whether casual visitors use them in the best possible circumstance. (I wonder if there are any that are all three!)

As part of your thinking, inquire into multi-user touch-walls or touch-tables as well. Since visitors intuitively understand these types of screens (they behave a lot like web-enabled phones), and the screens themselves are so responsively tactile, my observations lead me to believe that visitors find them very engaging. Good luck!

------------------------------
Rebecca Shreckengast
Director of Exhibit Experience
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh PA
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 08-27-2015 06:50 AM
From: Larry Rudnick
Subject: Magic Spheres

We've heard that "Magic Spheres," independent of content, do well as docent-led activities, but do not hold people's attention as stand-alone, unattended exhibits.  Does this match with others' experience?

------------------------------
Lawrence Rudnick
Bell Museum of Natural History /Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics

- University of Minnesota
Minneapolis MN
------------------------------