The judges said:
As a topic, the economic forces influencing market prices could easily be presented in a boring or overly complex manner. Instead, the Museo Interactive de
Economia has succeeded in creating a lively social experience through innovative use of PDA devices. The extensive evaluation undertaken by the project team
has clearly paid off, with a memorable and user-friendly experience. The ability for staff to update the game with products that are relevant to current events
is a terrific feature. We also noted that, because the game consists of three rounds, users can apply what they have learned to subsequent rounds. Using
technology to encourage social interaction is difficult and this project's success in getting kids and others with varied technical abilities working together
and having fun is admirable. This is an outstanding example of using technology as a tool for museum learning, and not simply for technology's sake.
The producers said:
El Museo Interactivo de Economía, or MIDE, is an innovative new museum in Mexico City which seeks to interpret economics to a broad audience in one of the most
populous cities in the world. One of the most technically and conceptually innovative media exhibits at MIDE is the Market Simulator.
The Market Simulator experience was designed to create the energy of a contemporary stock market. This was done through an integrated yet intensive media experience.
The result is a dynamic experience where human negotiation meets the virtual world. The objective of this multi-player Game is to educate visitors about the forces
that influence market prices. The exhibit aims to demonstrate to visitors through their experience how closely their day-to-day lives are tied to processes of the
market. It also aims to communicate to a broad audience, ranging from high-school students to economic scholars, and from users with very little or no experience
with digital technologies to the requirements of a more technologically sophisticated and international audience.
The media design for MIDE was a collaborative process between the team at MIDE and Magian Design Studio. All of the media programs were produced in-house at Magian
Design Studio.
The judges said:
The history of forensic medicine is brought to life in this exhibition through an innovative interactive autopsy slab, video presentations, and other interactives.
The autopsy slab is creatively designed to engage groups of visitors, who can share the experience of autopsy procedures on a life-size scale. The variety of
interactives within the exhibition creates a multi-sensory experience. Design and production quality meet extremely high standards. The interactives are extremely
user-friendly and we imagine them to be very appealing to both teenagers and adults.
The producers said:
Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body, an exhibition at the National Library of Medicine, traces the history of forensic medicine—the efforts of physicians, surgeons and other specialists to translate views of bodies and body parts into hard evidence or "visible proofs" that testify on behalf of the victims of violent crime and against the guilty.
Forensic medicine exists at the intersection of science and the law. In the Anglo-American legal tradition, cases of homicide or unexplained death required the coroner to "make a view of the body, " to perform a formal visual inspection of the deceased. Over time, medical professionals have come to play an increasingly important role in post-mortem investigation. This exhibition shows how scientific professionals have struggled to see into the body, to read the stories it has to tell, and to exhibit it—making "visible proofs" that are useable in courtrooms and larger social and political arenas. The exhibition shows how, from the laboratory, the classroom, the crime scene, and court of law, forensic views of the body—and views of forensic science itself—have entered the cultural imagination and become compelling to a mass audience, a global public.
In addition to static display elements the exhibition includes historic media; interpretive productions; customized forensic computer programs that aid in crime scene investigation and suspect identification; and dynamic, content rich interactives.
Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body is open to the public at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda Maryland through February 16 2008. The website will remain accessible after the exhibition closes. Please visit www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs.
Credits:
National Library of Medicine
Project Director: Elizabeth Fee, Ph.D.; Head, Exhibition Program: Patricia Tuohy; Exhibition Curator-Historian: Michael Sappol, Ph.D.; Exhibition Educator: Jiwon Kim;
Community Outreach Coordinator: Erika Mills; Exhibition Coordinator: Elizabeth Mullen; Exhibition Registrar: Jill L. Newmark; Creative development: Howard + Revis
Design Services, Exhibition and graphic design Washington, DC; Exhibition fabrication: Color Ad Signs and Exhibits; Audiovisual production: Madison Film, Inc.;
Technical support: Blair, Dubilier +Associates, Inc.
Second Story Interactive Studios
A/V Interactive Media and Web Site Design and Development, Portland, OR
Creative Director: Brad Johnson; Studio Director, Producer: Julie Beeler;
Designer: JD Hooge; Programmers: Thomas Wester, David Brewer, Matt Arnold;
Motion Graphics Artist: Alphonse Swinehart; Animator: Martin Linde; Audio/Video: Alphonse Swinehart; Writer: Lisa Berndt; Image Research: Alex Aronson;
Production Artist: Darby Sedcole; Production Assistant: Alex Aronson; Quality Assurance: Jennifer Young
The judges said:
We appreciate the thoughtfulness and planning behind the interactive installations placed throughout the Hamilton Building expansion. The museum's products evidence
creativity, innovation, and the benefits of a strategic collaborative approach. The activities targeted to children, including the bubble-popping experience and the
African soundboard, were most successful at creating opportunities for active engagement. Other installations, while attractively designed and providing interesting
content, were less interactive. We noted the project team's willingness to innovate and create technologies to fit their needs (e. g., the magnetic "x"
selector). The interactives were installed creatively and elegantly into the context of challenging architectural features. The variation in approach, design, and
interactivity among the installations keeps them fresh and interesting.
The producers said:
The Denver Art Museum recently opened a $110M, Libeskind-designed expansion adjacent to the existing building, essentially doubling the size of the campus. As part of
the expansion, the museum aggressively conceived, developed, and installed a sweeping array of technology-based experiences and improvements.
The end result, a suite of interactive environments, tangible interfaces, and custom programming and development were developed during a fairly intense 1 1/2 year
period while also overhauling the museum's existing technology infrastructure, replacing 4 major business systems (ticketing, gift shop, accounting, scheduling),
planning the expansion's technology infrastructure, developing a suite of websites (intranet, niche websites, and a re-architected and redesigned external website),
and maintaining regular staff support.
This collaborative effort, starting with a core group of 3-4 people, spanned the technology, education, exhibit and design departments with almost all of the work
being developed by museum staff and using internal resources. The overall work is part of a long-term strategy and iterative process of using technology responsibly.
We've tried to create experiences that simplify, delight, and engage without making technology a barrier to our visitors or to the art in our
collection.
The judges said:
The installations have an impressively strong connection to the museum's mission to promote critical thinking and appreciation of First Amendment rights. All of the
interactives underscore this theme and strike a successful balance between high design and useful content. The most appealing interactive experiences are those that
allow visitors to consider two sides of a debate, vote, and then see how other visitors have voted. The installations evidence a good mix of multimedia, including
audio, video, text, and images. The developers did an outstanding job taking an intellectual and somewhat abstract topic and making it concrete and engaging.
The producers said:
The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum is the nation's first museum dedicated to helping people understand freedoms with a focus on those guaranteed by the First
Amendment. The museum houses over 25 highly interactive exhibits throughout the 10,000 square feet of exhibit space in Chicago's Tribune Tower. From a 30-foot
long video wall to kiosks and installations in many diverse sizes and configurations, these unique media installations engage visitors and groups to make choices,
express their opinions, explore their own limits and compare views in compelling ways. Whether listening to banned music, learning about kids using T-shirts to
protest at school or reading about freedom in other countries, visitors can explore freedom in a relevant and unbiased context that allows them to reach their
own conclusions.
Credits: Second Story Interactive Studios, A/V Interactive Media Design and Development Creative Director: Brad Johnson; Studio Director: Julie Beeler; Producer: Julie
Beeler; Designers: JD Hooge, Kemp Attwood; Programmers: Thomas Wester, David Knape, Matt Arnold, Paige West; Motion Graphics: Martin Linde, Alphonse Swinehart;
Writer: Sharon Barry; 3D Visualization: Matt Arnold; A/V Editing & Production: Alphonse Swinehart; Audio Engineering & Soundtrack: Jason Wells; Hardware
Prototyping: Matt Arnold; Researchers: Laura Kreiss, Jennifer Young, Joan Mathys, Alison Rostankowski, Alex Aronson; Media Wall Concept Development: David Waingarten;
Production Assistants: Alex Aronson, Darby Sedcole; Quality Assurance: Jennifer Young; Partners—Exhibition Design: Gallagher & Associates; A/V Systems:
Design & Production
