San Francisco

Exploratorium
http://www.exploratorium.edu

Oscylinderscope

“ watching sound” – a synaesthetic experience

watch sound waves on strings as they are plucked and hear sound
‘a spinning barrel lets you watch as vibrating strings create sound

A visual affect called ‘The Persistance of Vision’ is created as one plucks the strings – the tighter the strings the smaller the waves appear – though waves are not truly produced. The sound of tight strings is also higher.

Here is another synaesthetic exhibit where one watches sound:

Navigate With Your Ears

Going on a tour of the San Francisco Bart system (a city train system) with a blind man as he guides you through the sounds that allow him to navigate the city – sounds from street musicians, to escalators, to change in machines all inform the audibly constructed space.

The participator sits on a bench staring at the wall with no visual stimulation and wears a set of head phones. The experience of the audio tour is heightened by the absence of having anything to look at – there is nothing to do but listen as the sounds of the city come to life.

Touch Theater

Identification of everyday objects that one cannot see but only touch with their hands placed through a curtain into a box where the various objects are layed out. Although the objects are very ordinary they are not all obvious to identify. The exhibit demonstrates our reliance on vision as we navigate the world – and how different the world would be if perceived solely though tactile exploration.

Tactile Dome

(interview with Miro)

The tactile dome is a fully immersive environment where one enters a completely dark world where one must navigate through a space with only the senses of touch and sound to guide them. Only one or two people enter the dome at a time. While it is playful in its a design - much like a maze or playpen for children that one must climb through different tunnels and crawlspaces -



Physical Science -- Physically Sensed

Cloud Rings

participants push down on a metsl plate creating a vortex by forcing a stream of fog through a vortex in the center. The experience involves the entire body in the movement causing the air to rise by pushing down.

Tornado

People can run through the warm air as it is sucked upward from a fan above that simulates the updraft of warm air as it occurs in the creation of tornados.
The experience is kinaesthetic and tactile.