Project Title:  Weight on Other Worlds

Museum/ Institution: Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City, UT 

Program Created:  

Media Category: Interactive Surfaces (kiosk)

Program URL (if available):   

http://clarkplanetarium.org/shows-and-exhibits/free-exhibits/ 

Project Image(s) and/or Video

Media Source(s)/Credit(s):
Jane Brady 

Program Description: (150-250 words)

To begin the use of this kiosk, the patron steps onto a large electronic scale and is told their weight in pounds. The patron is then prompted to select a spaceship destination from along the left-hand side of their video screen. Choices include the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and, interestingly, Pluto. Additional choices include the sun, the moon, an asteroid, and a neutron star. The patron then uses a track ball to position the cursor over their destination choice and clicks a large button to select. A video graphic appears of an alien flying in a space ship to a simulation of what the chosen destination might look like—for instance Mars is red, Saturn has rings. Upon arrival, the buck-toothed, yellow alien informs the patron what their weight would feel like at this location. For example, “Your weight on earth: 132 lbs. On Jupiter you’d feel like: 375 lbs.” Certain screens contained embellishments such as “On a neutron star you’d be flatter than a pancake. You’d feel like 26,400 billion lbs.”  

Firsthand or secondary review/critique: (150-250 words) 

With 10,000 square feet of educational exhibits I had high hopes for Clark Planetarium—the largest of its kind in Utah. With a website statement of “Clark Planetarium is one of the world’s leading centers for space and science education. Our mission is to create and present enlightening information that inspires wonder and learning about space and science” (http://clarkplanetarium.org/general-info/support-the-planetarium/) I was certainly expecting to find interactive technology which had been created in the past ten years. No such luck. While there was a smattering of electronic offerings, the interactive choices were woefully dated. The most exciting one of the lot, the “Weight on Other Planets” kiosk still lists Pluto as a planet—information outdated six years ago. The track ball has been so over used that it took quite some manipulating to get it where you wanted it to go. And the graphics might have seemed impressive in the mid-90s but were boring by today’s standards. After spending three minutes on the kiosk in which time she clicked through the process on two planets, a six-year-old patron stated, “This program doesn’t know how to have fun very well.” There is nothing inherently wrong with this kiosk other than that the technology has soured past its expiration date and the interface is rusty due to overuse. I cannot imagine who could realistically consider this planetarium "a world's leading center for space and science education." If Clark Planetarium is a leader, not many are following.

Technologies incorporated:

scale, touch screen, track ball, video 

Internally or externally produced:

Externally produced 

Entry Contributor and Date: 

Jane Brady 2/7/2012 

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