Category Archive for Museums

A Toughness Test of the MT-50 Multitouch Table

So how tough is the MT-50 multitouch table?  Just last week, we tried to find out. We conducted a few tests to see how the glass surface of the table in particular would hold up to some serious abuse.  First, we dropped a 12-pound bowling ball onto the table from a height of 2 feet, then we hit the table hard with a 4-pound hammer. Not only did the tempered glass surface survive, it showed no marks from these impacts. As you can…

ExhibitFiles New “Bits” Feature

The ExhibitFiles Website is a community site for exhibit designers and developers. Almost three years ago now, Ideum worked with the Association of Science -Technology Centers and Independent Exhibitions to help design and develop the site. Created with funding from the National Science Foundation, the purpose of the site is share design practices and provide access to resources that can improve exhibit design. Last week, we launched a new feature called “Bits,” which best described on the ExhibitFiles site itself: A Bit is an…

The Social Dimension: Interactive Exhibits for the Floor and Web at UVIC

At the end of March,  I will be teaching a blended (online and in person) course for the Cultural Resource Management program at the University of Victoria (UVIC) in British Columbia. The course is entitled The Social Dimension: Interactive Exhibits for the Floor and Web. A blogged about this a few months ago, now I’m busily preparing for this course. Here’s a brief course description…. Computer-Based Interactive exhibits are now commonplace in museums, and many of these same…

“Screens” Aren’t Killing Museums

I just read Paul Orselli’s provocative blog post  Are Screens killing Museums? (on ExhibiTricks) along with a barrage of posted comments. I agree with many of the points made, and while others have already suggested some positive things about “screens” in museums,  I couldn’t help but make my own top ten explaining why “screens” are important to the visitor experience. (Originally, I was going to post this as a comment, but it got a bit too long, plus I wouldn’t have been…