Electrosonic, a leading international audiovisual and technology services company, worked on complex system design, integration, detailed engineering and speciality projection for a new exhibition at the Carnegie Science Center, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US. This popular museum is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of innovators and leaders by promoting literacy in science, technology, engineering and maths.
The museum’s newest exhibit, Mars: The Next Giant Leap, transports visitors 300 million miles into space to show how supporting life on another planet may equally benefit life on Earth. Experiential technology plays a crucial element in the journey, by inviting guests to actively participate in the visions, difficulties, and solutions for creating a Mars society.
To make the creative vision a reality, Electrosonic collaborated with custom fabricators Ravenswood Studio, content creators RLMG, and Luci Creative, a full-service experiential design studio.
An inspirational exhibition
With its nearly 60 years of experience in creating expansive interactive museum experiences, as well as its strong working ties with an ecosystem of partners, Electrosonic was able to deliver a seamless and highly integrated technological solution that matched the design intent. The museum can also adapt the visitor experience as the colony develops, representing the ever-changing future of humans and Mars, thanks to a unique content management system.
Abigail Begos, project manager at Electrosonic, says: “Mars: The Next Giant Leap is an exciting inspirational exhibition that uses technology to recreate environments and experiences that are literally out of this world.”
AJ Goehle, Luci Creative’s principal & CEO, adds: “Our team loved working with the Carnegie Science Center, and we’re so proud of the exhibit. With Pittsburgh fast becoming a center of innovation for space technology, this was a timely and important story to tell, and the result is truly inspiring for visitors.”
Life on Mars
The 7,500-square-foot exhibit‘s opening component is View from Mars, a projected mural with striking telescope photographs of the Martian terrain. Then, in Climatology, visitors can visualise the effects of various scenarios on the climate of either Earth or Mars using two circular touchscreen control stations and a centre touchscreen. When visitors choose a scenario, a 25-foot edge-blended projection wall shows different content.
Next, in the Martian Garden area, visitors can play at being chefs, recreating well-known Earth cuisine with ingredients found on Mars using a 55-inch touchscreen. As they select ingredients, the meals are shown to them on screen. In the Martian Life installation, guests can use a 55-inch touchscreen to explore and create a Martian living place. They can also open a number of drawers to hear sound effects and stories from a ‘resident’ of Mars.
The exhibition’s finale is Dream Big: Space, a huge physical model that imagines what a Mars colony would look like. Visitors can explore the model and cast votes on topics that could affect how the colony develops via one of four touchscreens. Several parts of the colony are highlighted by three overhead projectors. The information on the colony’s four integrated LED panels (which resemble windows) changes in response to visitor votes.
Working together to make the vision a reality
To fulfil the client’s vision, the seven unique interactive media experiences in the Mars Museum required high degrees of complex, specialised integration. To obtain the desired results, the approach also required close coordination between exhibition designers, content producers, fabricators, and systems integrators. The exhibition will change as new information about the planet becomes available, so it was necessary for the technological solution to be adaptable to changing content needs.
The aim of Mars: The Next Giant Leap is to engage a wide range of viewers and inspire discussion long after their visit, inspiring people to consider space exploration, significant social concerns, and maybe a career in space. Visitors are encouraged to ask questions and make informed judgements about space while engaging exhibitions and dramatic projections spark excitement and provide inspiration for the future.
Last year, Electrosonic completed work on the new First Light experience at Jodrell Bank Observatory, a scientific UK landmark. The Jodrell Bank project was recently recognised in the blooloop Innovation Awards, winning Third Place in the Spectacular category.
Meanwhile, Luci Creative helped bring the new Moonshot Museum to life in Pittsburgh, home to real spacecraft and stories from space industry professionals.