One of my all-time favorite uses of technology is almost 20 years old--
it's at the Smithsonian Museum of American History exhibit called A More
Perfect Union, on the Japanese American Internment during World War II.
It's not interactive but a projected film that provides a wonderful context
for a reconstructed environment, a room in an internment camp.  Visitors
approach the room from one side.  The other side shows a door with a view
of a desert landscape.  From that side, a Japanese-American man and his
teen-aged daughter approach the room and start talking about what it was
like for him to grow up in a camp.  It essentially is a series of very
short one-act plays. They were produced by Selma Thomas of Watertown
Productions based on oral histories of people who did grow up in the camps.
The actor who portrays the man also grew up in a camp.  The combination of
environment and story, authenticity and simplicity, context and content,
all combine to create a very powerful experience.

Ann Mintz

> [Original Message]
> From: Bruce Wyman <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 7/9/2004 7:26:04 PM
> Subject: use of technology in exhibits/museums
>
> I'm looking for suggestions of great uses of technology in museum
> exhibits or as part of the overall museum experience - things that
> really enhanced and improved the visitor's experience, while not just
> being over the top.
>
> It might be a nicely done interactive tour that remembers where
> you've been, an unexpected surface that ended up being an interactive
> display, an entire environment that was reactive, projections that
> appear in unexpected places, etc. Things that were part of an amazing
> experience beyond the average, nicely interfaced touchscreen in the
> corner of an exhibit.
>
> I'm looking for visual treats, auditory delights, tactile sensations
> - engaging interactions.
>
> If there's a museum that just seems to get technology right from your
> point of view, I'd love to hear about that as well. At the same time,
> if you've examples of things that just seemed like they were well
> intentioned, but seemed to miss the mark, I'd be interested to know.
>
> I know it's a pretty broad query, but I'd love to hear people's great
> experiences.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -bw.
> --
>
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-=-=
> Bruce Wyman, Director of New Technologies
> Denver Art Museum  /  100 W 14th Ave. Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204
> office: 720.913.0159  /  fax: 720.913.0002
> <[log in to unmask]>
>
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