BS So how important is it then that exhibits are interactive and hands-on?
HW Right. Interactive can be quite a broad thing. I, call the,
the Shimmering exhibit down the far end which is only a graphic stuck to the
wall, it's an interactive exhibit, but the action happens inside your head,
but it's interactive, it's what you bring to it. I mean that's, starting where
the visitor is. You know the mantra, means that the experience is different
for each person because they bring different things, to it. So, the opportunity
to interact has to be structured at different levels for each person. I mean,
the, the, only an ideal exhibit would, manage to do that, but if you look
at - the Bernoulli Blower for example, which is as close to an ideal exhibit
probably as we get, it's an old cliché but, you know, a toddler will come
up to it and just laugh because the ball is floating in the air. A, an older
child may experiment with it and pull it out of the flow and put it back in
and then, may, older still they'll find that the, air goes faster over the
top of the ball and begin to, you know, do the magic ball going up and down
by waving your hand over it stunt. Particularly if a helper shows them it,
you know, and that's quite satisfying. And then you, I mean, I've heard, one
of the old professors from Mechanical Engineering, talking about the oscillation
of the ball within the flow, in terms of second order differential equations
and taking it right the way up to the top. Now that's, there aren't all that
many exhibits that hit every single one right from the top to the bottom,
but, the Blower does.
