Hello all,
In our current Innovation Gallery at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, we have an augmented reality sandbox that is open to all guests and is the first thing that they see entering the gallery. We are able to show different layers of topography or differences in height for land and water with our sandbox. Instead of actual sand, our box contains white sand pellets made of a recycled rubber material similar to the size and shape of kitty litter. Since opening two years ago, we have added additional signage for educational interpretation and asking guests to keep the sand in the box.
The issue that we have found is the amount of sand that makes it out of the sandbox and we have to vacuum off the floor. Our floor staff spends a great deal of time vacuuming this sand, especially on busy days, and it is expensive to replace. During a study in the summer, we found that on average we spent 20 minutes a day vacuuming the floor. Signage hasn't helped much and staff can only watch/interpret the exhibit so much. I think that many of our younger visitors interpret the box as a real sandbox, so they play with it as if it outdoors and throw the sand around.
For anyone that has an augmented reality sandbox or observed one at another museum, I thought that I would inquire about how you manage yours.
- First, how do you keep your sandbox area clean and picked up?
- Have you found any helpful ways to get (young) guests to not throw around sand beyond verbal queues and signage?
- Finally, are there any special programs or demonstrations that you have done with your sandbox that you would like to share?
Thanks for any helpful information about augmented reality sandboxes and have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
------------------------------
Cody Cook
Interpretation Specialist
Kalamazoo Valley Museum
Kalamazoo MI
------------------------------