I looked at 3 of the interactive displays at The Rotunda Museum on Wednesday, although I have to say that the third one wasn’t really interactive.
The first display was a touch-screen pedestal , there were two parts, first of all there was the “Erosion Game” In this game you had to select the correct route of action to pretect your town/village. There were different scenarios with a multiple choice of solutions. For example, A small town with an unlimited budget on the top of a sandstone cliff needed protection from the effects of wave erosion. Once an answer was selected the cliff was erroded until you selected the correct answer. Various objects fell into the sea, and if the house fell into the sea......
The animation was slick, and I found the game both easy and enjoyable to play. The last scenario had no correct answer, and, I found this a little annoying, as there was quite a wait for the house to fall, although this might have only been a few seconds it seemed a lot longer.
The second part of this display concentrated on “The Holbeck Hall” this comprised of press clippings relating to the hotel falling into the sea on the south side of Scarborough. I found this brought back memories, as I was one of those standing on the cliifs watching, with hundreds of other people.
The second display I viewed was “Gristhorpe Man” The glass case was the home of a skeleton, and an animated head spoke to the viewer by way of a handset, not unlike a telephone. The dialog was amusing in parts as well as informative. It transpires that Bradford University established where he had lived by means of his teeth, and they could also tell that his level of fitness and general health were good. They also determined that he was about 60 when he died.
The last display I viewed was the inteactive dinosaur coast line. I did not see much of this as there was a large crowd taking part in the activity. My vision was hampered because of the height of the display, and I lost interest pretty quickly. I think the activity went on too long, I could only imagine that had I been a ten year old, how frustrating it would have been with perhaps 20 other children waiting for my turn. Although it has to be said that at such an age I would probably been able to see what others were doing on the screen.
There were other displays, which had telephone type handsets for listening to the audio whilst viewing the acompanying screen. I though the displays I used were well thought out and interesting. I am sure the other displays were equally fascinating.