On Friday we visited the ROM to meet with the director of New Media, Brian Porter. Our journey took us from the Jurassic era to the modern world. We began in the digital gallery playing with the installed touch screen based computers designed to give children an interactive learning experience. These screens allow the user to choose between Egyptian or Canadian historical explorations. Within each of the respective selections the user was then able to choose an artifact, zoom in or out as well as rotate it to see a complete 360 degree view of all of its sides. The digital gallery also housed a 3 projector based screen to display accompanying films created by the media department as a teaching device for chosen topics.
Next we moved on to the new dinosaur exhibit to visit Gordo, the infamous Barosauraus and his skeletal friends. The new crystal structure that houses the new home of the dinos has been the subject of much architectural controversy. I for one am a fan of the new space and I love the look of the crystal addition. It is like a metaphor of the ROM itself. The crystal represents the emergence of old and new technologies in a way that demonstrates to the viewer that both are necessary and meaningful.
The dinosaur gallery also offered interactive kiosks for visitors to view information on the creatures. These new kiosks were very slick looking with a very Apple like design. They were only single touch screens though, not the fantastic new multi touch experiences that have been making headlines. I found the navigational buttons unnecessarily small, which would definitely make the experience more challenging for small children or visually impaired people. Brian mentioned that it is still a work in progress, perhaps they are still working out display issues. I was quite surprised to learn that the kiosks were designed by Overdrive Design , a company that I have previously worked with during my time designing at Karbon. What a great client to have. Of course I had to immediately send a message to James Wilson, the owner of Overdrive to congratulate him on landing such a gig and for a job well done. I think sometimes we forget to praise and instead focus on criticism.
After our ROM experience we employed the ancient form of transportation, walking, and made our way to Steve Mann's studio at Dundas and McCaul. Steve Mann is well known for his ventures as a cyborg. Indeed, he was wearing his fantastic eye piece which displays content directly to his eye via a laser. I'm not quite sure how it works but I imagine it would be along the same lines of these experimental internet displaying contacts. Speaking of eyes, he mentioned that within the next 5-10 years we would be downloading our eye prescriptions from the internet which will electronically adjust as needed. I'm not sure about this, wouldn't it just be easier for us all to get laser eye surgery and permanently correct the problem?
The main attraction of our visit was his hydraulophone. This water organ produced impressive sound quality and was fun for everyone. It seems to bring out the kid in everyone. Who wouldn't like the idea of actually playing with a fountain? It is truly a great interactive invention. What a great way to excite people and encourage them to interact and learn with their environment. Hopefully we will be seeing more of the tadpole shaped Nessies in parks and public areas soon.
All in all we had a great day of visiting multimedia pioneering in action. Hopefully can generate some inspiration from this and apply it to our own plethora of projects.
