,,,,

Along with my colleague Juliet Norton, we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium for fun and for research. The aquarium is a beautiful mix of animal exhibits and interactive technology. Here is a brief video and our thoughts on the experience.

0:13 The Otter Habitat

These are sea otters, and are quite different from river otters. This habitat was two levels. The bottom level had an underwater view only, but there were few fish and almost no fauna. It was rather unexciting because the otters were playing at the surface. The top level showed the top 4 feet of water and the surface. The land part of the habitat wasn’t terribly large (only about 20 x 5 feet and mostly rocky), but the water was quite deep. The entire habitat had a very “man made” feel. They were sleeping in the water on their backs, but had plastic toys to play with when awake. We didn’t see a feeding, but this camera shows it daily.

0:35 Pledge to help the environment

This interactive interface aims to motivate children to help keep the environment clean by taking a pledge and cleaning up a virtual environment. On a touch screen proximal display a user chooses his or her pledge (e.g. picking up trash, recycling, reducing fuel use, etc) and their picture is taken. The headshot is placed on the user’s avatar in a virtual town (of presumably Monterey) shown on a large global display. Each user’s avatar begins working towards their chosen pledge. The camera focus is routinely changed between users so each person can see their involvement in keeping Monterey clean. The user can continue to interact with the proximal display by exploring available trivia about the current pledge or decide to pursue another pledge.

There were a lot of people around this station – the children were the ones interacting and pledging, but parents were enthusiastically helping them or watching.

1:00 Death of a Whale

This kiosk educates children about the circle of life under the sea. The global display shows a whale that has died under the sea and there is a narrator that explains how the whale died and the technology used to monitor the whale on the ocean bottom. There were several proximal stations where the users interaction occurred. The users are asked to collect video of eight different organisms found around the decaying whale (all virtual assets). When you spotted the organism you selected (touch screen) and then are able to collect the video recording. In a pop-up window a video clip is shown of the corresponding live animal to indicate the user has collected the video. This is the extent of the interaction with the proximal display. The global narrator is where the bulk of the information came from. There were also plastic buttons to the side of the touch-screen proximal displays, but they were-non functioning and kind of distracting.

1:30 Magnifying Glass

There was an open aquarium of water where coral and other small organisms were living, but on top were several floating magnifying glasses that were anchored in to the side wall with wire. There was a sign that said “Do Not Touch” but it was unclear if the sign was referring to the magnifying glasses or the water and organisms. Forbidden use of the magnifying glass would remove all possible interaction rendering the station less than purposeful. I took the risk and moved the glass around and was able to find a tiny little crab that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

1:40 Safe Wildlife Encounters

This station aimed in educating users about how humans can harm sea life when walking around tide pools and picking up animals. There are four users stations around a large global display. The global display features a virtual tide pool and foot prints that represent the four users. Each user station has a joystick for moving their foot prints and a small touch screen that reports warnings when you’re about to step on sensitive areas full of life. When you get close enough, you are given the choices to take a photo or to pick up an organism. If you pick up an organism that can be harmed you are told so and asked to only look at these creatures when you encounter them in real life.

2:22 Making Informed Decisions About Seafood

This experience informs visitors of the consequences of eating certain kinds of seafood. Users sit down at a diner counter and order from a touch-screen menu by selecting one of three available options on the menu. The restaurant staff informs you about your decision and tells you why it is safe for you and the ecosystem to eat that item or not. There are many menu stations (proximal displays) but the restaurant staff can only address one order at a time, so the orders are queued.

3:15 Explore the Habitat of Tiny Hermit Crabs

This aquatic tank featured a rocky habitat which hermit crabs live in. This was only an exploratory experience for users via a movable camera. The camera had a joystick to translate on the XZ plane and a switch that controlled translation in the Y direction (assuming Y is up). I discovered a third control that allowed the camera to pivot and instinctually tried to get my friend in the frame. If the pivot feature had been removed it is likely I would have focused on the mysterious lives of the hermits.

Conclusion

This video has provided a glimpse of what can be found at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The though of a visitor’s experience can be found in all design aspects of this establishment from the interactive learning experience featured in this film to placing deep sea exhibits on the bottom floor and locating coral and shoreline exhibits on the top floor. For further questions please contact Emiko and Juliet or visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium website.

Advertisement