Open Forum

Yes! I recently visited the Peabody Essex in Salem and they had what sounds like a similar tool. There were 2-3 IPads mounted on the wall that the visitor could lift and point at different photographs (the iPads were tethered). The photographs would then begin speaking. It was their exhibition, "On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America." 

Yes! I recently visited the Peabody Essex in Salem and they had what sounds like a similar tool. There were 2-3 IPads mounted on the wall that the visitor could lift and point at different photographs (the iPads were tethered). The photographs would then begin speaking. It was their exhibition, "On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America." 

Yes! I recently visited the Peabody Essex in Salem and they had what sounds like a similar tool. There were 2-3 IPads mounted on the wall that the visitor could lift and point at different photographs (the iPads were tethered). The photographs would then begin speaking. It was their exhibition, "On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America." 

I'm surprised by the Peabody Essex installation. We've certainly mounted many iPads in galleries, but always rigidly. When I think tether, I picture a pendulum, and whatever is on the end of the tether will be whacking the wall with force. There are some pretty robust "shock-proof" cases out there, but they generally have the aesthetics of a tonka truck. We expect cases for publicly accessible iPads to be lockable, and shield a power cable (because there's no way staff has the time to plug dying iPads into a charger every time the battery indicator turns red). It's also often helpful if the home button can be hidden away from visitors' fingers. I don't know of an iPad case that checks all of these boxes, much less one that provides high-level protection and gives art gallery vibes as opposed to Robot Wars vibes. But maybe it's out there!

We've also built a few custom housings, but this, of course, eats into precious budgets. A robust but positionable iPad housing would be very cool - and pretty darn expensive.

I'm surprised by the Peabody Essex installation. We've certainly mounted many iPads in galleries, but always rigidly. When I think tether, I picture a pendulum, and whatever is on the end of the tether will be whacking the wall with force. There are some pretty robust "shock-proof" cases out there, but they generally have the aesthetics of a tonka truck. We expect cases for publicly accessible iPads to be lockable, and shield a power cable (because there's no way staff has the time to plug dying iPads into a charger every time the battery indicator turns red). It's also often helpful if the home button can be hidden away from visitors' fingers. I don't know of an iPad case that checks all of these boxes, much less one that provides high-level protection and gives art gallery vibes as opposed to Robot Wars vibes. But maybe it's out there!

We've also built a few custom housings, but this, of course, eats into precious budgets. A robust but positionable iPad housing would be very cool - and pretty darn expensive.