Footsteps - Medical Inflatables

 

 Another faithful welcome back, and with another Footsteps article with regards to some of the most interesting, yet similar exhibits that some of us might enjoy, that is if you enjoyed Wonders of Life. Of course, while we covered some interesting and state of the art external exhibits beyond Epcot's borders, there is a class of external exhibits in which they are considered visually unusual at first glance (well, to the point they might qualify for a What the WT- article), but on closer inspection, this kind of exhibit has already developed a large traveling footprint, and it is successful in both message and visitor attraction.

As found in the Mega Heart official page (http://www.medicalinflatables.com/MEGAHeart.aspx)

Believe it or not, this article is covering a unique travelling exhibit - it is a group of inflatable models of the human body, under the name MEGA. These inflatables are designed to present the many areas of the human body or organ in an exploratory manner, both to exhibit their roles and functions, and deliver awareness of the many diseases associated with the organ itself. These inflatable model exhibits are often rented out for venues, ranging from school incursion visits, through to charity awareness events (heart disease organisations , and some are even hired for parties.

To date, there are four inflatable exhibits currently functioning are the heart, the lungs, the brain and even a stylised representation of a human body (the whole set, including the digestive tract). The advantages of such inflatables would be their portability, where one inflatable model (plus the necessary air) would take one mode of transport, as compared to other exhibits designed for migration with multiple museums requiring more, and requiring part assembly on arrival. With regards to their complexity, the inflatable models have been regularly maintained to ensure they are ready for their next stream of visitors, either for a day or a week.

In their relation to Epcot's Wonders of Life pavilion's exhibits past, there sadly is no equivalent other than Body Wars (far different and more mechanical), but both in comparison highly emphasise the need to explore, but different respectively... while Body Wars tended to run on "scheduled missions" programmed on the rides, the MEGA Inflatables are a 'wander at your own place' type of exhibit, where guests can make their way around the model, even with the option to return to a spot they may have otherwise missed. There is an underlying health message in them too, one that Body Wars only leaned on a touch – showcasing the many diseases and conditions (albeit physical) experienced by the organ in question might help motivate people to manage their health better, even prevent the condition. 

On further thoughts, if Wonders of Life were still around, or if it had any room to spare for temporary exhibits, chances are these inflatables would have stopped by, either for events or promoting the pavilion to crowds on a slow visits day. Somehow, Wonders of Life could have taken advantage of opening a showroom for those not fit enough to travel the LGS-250 B229 probe, and built an equivalent exploratory exhibit (blood vessel gymbaree anyone?) to keep them happy. 

Chances are you might want to look up some more information on the exhibits, or maybe you have opinions with the exhibits of this kind, which you can leave in the comments below. Here is the link to the exhibits in case you are interested in reading more:

Medical Inflatables, 2013. Inflatable Heart | Heart Exhibit | Brain Exhibit [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.medicalinflatables.com/HOME.aspx. [Accessed 19 December 2013].

Until next time, readers!

Footsteps - Professor Wellbody's Academy of Health and Wellness

Welcome back readers, and after an awful bloggers block, it's time to get back to the reviewing and investigation of other similar exhibits, around the world, that would have followed in the footsteps of the Wonders of Life pavilion (well, even if not directly).

For this article, not so long ago, an exhibit at the Pacific Science Centre in Seattle, Washington has opened a health-related exhibit, under the title Professor Wellbody's Academy of Health and Wellness, and basically the premise is that this fictitious schooling organisation was named after its founder, Eleanor Wellbody, who thought of how people would take charge on the adoption of healthy habits (in the fields of nutrition, sleep and physical activity), as well as the many numerous fun ways to share them. So, enter this exhibit, paying homage to the state-of-the-art academic institutions (or must I say, the numerous privileged schools of yesteryear), as the Pacific Science Centre explains in a paragraph...

“...this innovative and highly immersive new exhibit will bring guests of all ages into the imaginative world of Professor Wellbody, demonstrating how personal choices can positively affect our health and well-being. Seven-thousand square feet of hands-on inventions, gadgets, activities and experiences will present health as a life-long process of balancing exercise, diet, proper rest and hygiene.”

Footsteps - Gulf Coast Exploreum's "My Bodyworks"

Welcome again, readers. Today in Footsteps, we have dug up another exhibit of interest, this time, centered in downtown Alabama, at the Gulf Coast Exploreum. The exhibit in question is one called "My Bodyworks", which is one of the human body exhibits in focus.

The museum exterior building, as seen here: http://blog.bigmoviezone.com/?p=12924

The "My Bodyworks" exhibit, opened in January 2009, is a high-tech look at the human body, in an interactive, hands-on and engaging way. According to the Gulf Coast Exploreum's official site, the interactive hall contains 50 custom designed exhibits to dazzle a wide range of audiences. The main game of the exhibit isn't just hands on edutainment, but also in an interactive manner, as the site describes:

From the 12-foot-tall beating heart to augmented reality, science meets fun at every turn. Each exhibit reveals information about anatomy, nutrition or exercise. Learn more about the skin you're in and how to live life to the fullest with healthy choices.

 Head to Toe: An interactive scanner, allowing guests to get to know the body's systems at a glance.

This, along with other exhibits, is demonstrated at the 3:57 minute mark

Interiorwise, it feels like a large, futuristic laboratory, one that MET Biotech would have bawled over if it wasn't for sponsor cuts (but enough with the jealousy element). Here's a lowdown of the exhibit stations at a glance:

• The BeHealthy stations, which encourages everyone to test their physical activity skills within a range of activities in a fun and engaging way. Whether through jump tests, upper muscle strength or flexibility tests (such as the Dance Dance Revolution, Cardiac Style game), through to measuring blood pressure and volume, and even an exercise activity to see how long it would burn the calories in (example given) a cheeseburger! As part of the interactivity experience, visitors would record their results on the activity cards, and they would be traded for your personal health profile.


• My Beating Heart, a 12 foot tall illuminated heart model, designed to display the signs of cardiac arrest in a biomechanical manner. The premise is the heart is seen beating normally, but during a simulated blood clot, it works harder and faces cardiac arrest. A monument of borderline 'creep factor', but at the same time, a head on look on the heart as it functions. Also, augmented reality cards allowing the virtual inspection of the heart's exterior, functions and many components and valves, forming the secondary heart of this cardiac exhibit. 

My Beating Heart: The interactive heart display

• Head to Toe Display, (seen further upwards) which is a spectacular 'window to the innards', via a movable screen to scan a life size representation of the body, delving into five of the body's well known systems (skeletal, muscular, cardiopulmonary, nervous and digestive); users can touch the screen and switch from one system to another, to view text based/video based information on the organ of that system.
• Ernest G DeBakey Virtual Surgery Center, a high tech surgery simulation center covering more than a selection of surgical procedures, from a virtual heart bypass, knee replacement surgery, blood vessel repair with laser-beam tools, and even endoscopic surgery techniques.

The Ernest G DeBakey Virtual Surgery Center, home of some of the most innovative surgery simulation displays.

Along with these exhibits, there is also a BioLab, appropriately named as it is a fully functioning laboratory, where visitors can participate in some interesting experiments, and view some entertaining demonstrations. At any time, five different experiment procedures designed for visitors to explore health and biology in a hands on manner in its different sections (the body, medicine, health, nutrition, fitness), and has covered a range of themes covered bi-monthly (cited on the website including "...Human Body Systems, Health & Nutrition, Physical Fitness, Human Growth & Aging, Immunology, Microbiology, Human Anatomy..."). On-stage demonstrations also allow visitors to serve as volunteers as part of each explored topic. Healthy cooking demonstrations, virtual lab visits and workshops have also happened there.

A glimpse of the BioLab, with a set of exercise racers (visitors get to race against a skeletal model to understand how their skeleton works) 

The reason why I managed to bring this up as part of the Footsteps series is that there is an interesting allusion to the Frontiers in Medicine, one that would have been the biomedical premise bearing similarities to another exhibit on EPCOT territory, The Living Seas. Of course, while we already have a laboratory within EPCOT borders (the one situated in The Land in charge of managing the garden), it would be interesting to have a laboratory setting when it comes to approaching the topic of advances in medical technology. Add to the amusement or touring aspects of Body Wars (or a similar niche ride with that biomedical factor, original development permitting) and you have yourselves, yet again, part of a possible new lease on Life. After describing and analysis of the exhibit components, it is interesting how innovative "My Bodyworks" appears, and hence is an excellent contender in the Footsteps section of this blog.

Here are some source links of where some of the information was quoted or referenced from, along with some other pages for further reading or research:

• 2012. Gulf Coast Exploreum - My Bodyworks. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.exploreum.com/exhib_bodyworks.html. [Accessed 18 October 12].
• 2012. Gulf Coast Exploreum - BioLab. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.exploreum.com/exhib_biolab.html [Accessed 18 October 12]
• 2009. G. C Exploreum's Blog, "Virtual Surgery Center is a Big Hit" [ÓNLINE] Available at http://exploreum.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/virtual-surgery-center-is-big-hit.html [Accessed 18 October 12].
• 2009. G. C. Exploreum's Blog, "My Bodyworks Exhibit Now Open" [ONLINE] Available at http://exploreum.blogspot.com.au/2009/01/my-bodyworks-exhibit-now-open.html [Accessed 18 October 12].

If you have any experiences pertaining to visiting the exhibit, whether from anecdotes or memories or even a few pics, feel free to mention them in the comments below. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check back other articles within the Footsteps section, and if you know of a great health or human body exhibit worth researching (or free-promoting!) feel free to drop a line!

Footsteps - Corpus (Netherlands)

Welcome back again, readers, and here with another article on Footsteps, this time, on an immersive museum experience based in Europe, and surprisingly a referential equivalent to the early addition for the Life and Health pavilion - an OmniMover ride titled the Incredible Journey Within. However, this attraction directly takes a leaf from the book on what the Wonders of Life would have had...

The introductory tourist video, which explains Corpus facts and figures at a glance.

Footsteps - You! The Experience

Welcome back, readers, and in another issue of Footsteps, we focus on another state of the art exhibit, already mentioned a little way back in this blog as an exhibit of interest, and even for its release a couple of years ago, it still has the inspirational appeal of what Wonders would have jumped for if it was given another chance.
You! The Experience is a successful interactive exhibit, as hosted by the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago, and  focuses on the concept of life and health in an expansive take - ranging from the mind and body, through to healthy choices, through to medical innovations, and even in depth to a personal level. Again, because the exhibit is continentally away from my main blogging quarters (*SIGH*), I shall start with a brief summary of the exhibits primary highlights:

• Your Mind - portraying the mind as the "...main generator of the thoughts, emotions and decisions that can affect your health in big and subtle ways", this part of the exhibit covers the self-portrait (how we see ourselves), as well as techniques to attract our attention (for instance, in advertising), and even an interactive 'brain exploration' game under augmented reality.
  
  
  

  More written information on this technological exhibit of the brain: Augmented Reality - Brain Interactive



• Your Appetite - encouraging people to be concious of what they feed their bodies, this exhibit is hands-on, especially in fields on comparing different common snack choices (which one is healthier?) and even what's really in their snacks.


• Your Heart - Considered the most iconic exhibit landmark of the Museum, it is a 13-foot tall 3D interactive animation, and shows many views of the heart, inside and out. Guests can interact by sending over their pulse - the heart on display will beat in time with theirs. Here's a brief video from their official website:
  
  
  


• Your Beginning - In my humble opinion, if 'The Making of Me' had its own interactive exhibit, but with more artistic merit - this exhibit consists of an interactive display following a mother adjusting to a growing baby during pregnancy, through to a collection of preserved human embryo/fetuses, each per stage of development.
  


• Your Vitality - they say that overall health is closely linked to quality of life, so this section is to do with the little things that can help your overall health. The iconic Laugh Garden is the cornerstone of the exhibit (and the epitome of laughter as the best medicine), as well as an engaging game of mindball, in which guests compete against each other trying to move the ball the furthest - the more relaxed the person, the higher chance of succeeding.


• Your Movement - this section inspires guests to be more physically active in life, regardless of their age or state of health - this ranges through to the assisting (a "sports personality quiz" to help pick which activity you'll enjoy), through to the interactive (the 'hamster wheel' and the motion-capture screen installations)
  


• Medical Innovations (ft. iStan®) - the name says it all, this section focuses on the high tech aspects of medical developments (which would have filled the niche for what Frontiers in Medicine), from the bionic, through to medical imaging, and even to some life-changing high tech procedures. Also featuring iStan®, a Human Patient Simulator unit, capable of exhibiting realistic symptoms of medical crises.


• Your Future - now this part of the exhibit takes an intrapersonal look at how we see ourselves, whether physically (the interactive 'aging' simulation portraits), through to the mental (the interests, hopes and dreams, organised into your very own online bucket-list) and even the experiences of others (from the experiences of centenerians through to your opportunity to contribute a fragment of your life story)

The reason why I cite this exhibit in this blog article is due to its innovative nature; you may recall much earlier in the blog that there is mention of the exhibit as a primary source of inspiration for hypothesising what Wonders would have strived to be had it remained alive and nurtured, rather than shuttered and sentenced into oblivion. In fact, comparing the aesthetics of the Wonders of Life as it was presented since 1989, as well as that of You! The Experience, it seems that the latter has more aesthetic updated potential that Wonders would have pled for (but nobody listened.) Even some components of the exhibit would have inspired me to organize Wonders attractions by group (see Operation Imagineer for a little more understanding), among a few more things.

But honestly, being the distant blogger I am, I do not have the access to try the exhibit in person, so I am inviting you bloggers to leave a comment with regards to You! The Experience, and how it would have helped Wonders of Life still into visitors eyes.

Noting that this summary article is only a page in the book, here are some resources and external blog articles if you would like some more information, or some more pictorial evidence on each of the featured attractions and their technologies.

• Pernot and Tatlin (2010) Pernot and Tatlin » You! the Experience. [online] Available at: http://pernotandtatlin.com/?p=91 [Accessed: 17 May 2012]. 
• The Voice Of Silence (2011) REPORT on “YOU!, THE EXPERIENCE” Exhibit
  at MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY. [online] Available at:
  http://voice-of-film.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/report-on-you-experience-exhibit-at.html
  [Accessed: 18 May 2012].
• Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (2009) Museum of Science and Industry | YOU! The Experience. [online] Available at: http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/you/ [Accessed: 21 May 2012].

If you have any information or experiences with the above exhibit (what do you think of it?) or have a request for an externally based human body/health/wellbeing centered exhibit that you would like WOL4EVA to cover, feel free to leave a comment below.

Until next time, readers!

Footsteps - Sportsworks exhibit

To the bloggers new to reading the blog, welcome. And for those who are here following the blog on its various research and travels, welcome back. In Footsteps, we investigate a selection of exhibits outside EPCOT territory... which, for some apparent inspirational (and unintentional) reason, decided to follow in the footsteps of the Wonders of Life pavilion. And this first article issue will cover a particular exhibit which, must I confess, is apparently one closest to my resident city from where I am writing. Where in the world is the exhibit I'm writing about?

Image at  http://recollections.nma.gov.au/issues/vol_1_no_2/commentary/museum_victoria/  

It's in here, at a science museum somewhere in the city of Melbourne, Australia, which I'd like to introduce you to ScienceWorks. Basically, the ScienceWorks museum, as with the case of other science and hands-on museums some of you may have been to, appear to be very popular with school children, and I can recall going there within my primary school grades 5 and 6 individually. My last trip so far there was in 2007, when an exhibit on the science of movie special effects and the use of animatronic components in films was going on. Also, for overseas readers in Australia, and particularly the Melbourne area, who can recall visiting the museum as a kid (or most likely a parent) would have took notice at some of the changes in coming subsequent visits. Exhibits come and go, but believably for variety reasons, this could mean that EPCOT is not necessarily alone on the changes (for either negative or positive reasons... either  way.) But enough about the visit nostalgia...

The entrance to Scienceworks' niche attraction of Wonder's Fitness Fairgrounds exhibit, Sportsworks
[Photo found here]

As part of its array of 'permanent' exhibits, Sportsworks largely focuses on the science of human physiology behind one of our well known pasttimes and current activities - sports. And keeping in touch with the hands-on element that we see in some of Wonder's fitness related exhibits (Fitness Fairgrounds, Coach's Corner...), Sportsworks has manages one step further (and larger) with a selection of various activities related to fitness, exercise and sports in general. For instance, Sportsworks has a selection of fitness test activities, which allow visitors to test their abilities - their balance, lifting, tugging and jumping, etc. abilities. Last time I visited with my family (awww!), I recall picking up a leaflet which allowed you to fill in the results, and what you did after filling them in, you fed them into a computer and it would calculate the results.

Just some of the hands-on exhibits in Sportsworks.
In fact, school programs revolve around the museum. Photo seen on  http://museumvictoria.com.au/about/mv-news/2010/school-partnerships-at-scienceworks/ 

The west exhibit entrance, with the skeletal cyclist model suspended in midair; snowboard simulator and other displays. Photo seen on http://www.flickr.com/photos/nove_hartanto/1003537672/

Visitors have the opportunity to race against one of Australia's iconic athletic sprinters in sports history, Cathy Freeman.

 Also, with regards to the other activities on offer, there are some interesting activities. for instance, the interactive jogging track (while dated by technological standards) allows visitors to test their sprinting skills against well known track athletes. Other hands on activities include the rock climbing wall, and even simulation games to do with kayaking, snowboarding and (last time I glanced), an immersive game where users play 'goalie' and defend their soccer goalpost by catching the soccer balls as they fly by. How's that for stimulating?

From local news article slideshow, "Fun and Chaos at Scienceworks", accessible at http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2011/09/05/3310304.htm

But enough about the description. What I discovered during the research that Fitness Fairgrounds and Coach's Corner, by today's standards, would have literally fainted in comparison to Sportsworks from one of Australia's iconic science museums. It's actually confirmed, thanks to personal experience as a kid (regardless of where it is) that these hands on exhibits are popular with kids, young and old. Had Wonders hung on for much longer, let alone be raised back to life, it would prove plausible to consider a similar setup for the new look Fitness Fairgrounds and Coach's Corner sections. 

Of course, apart from the science of the body, the exhibit actually gives visitors another kind of education - mathematics, measurement and the technology behind sports. In fact, the fitness activity tests included a height and weight chart for statistical purposes. From there, visitors have estimated, counted and measured their way into the fitness activities, even making their way into school programs. Oh, the far cry when EPCOT once was graced by local schools in its heyday...

...moving on. However, this exhibit isn't the only one that demonstrates science behind sport, physiology and everything else in this category. Believe it or not, depending on where the last time you visited a science museum was, you may have encountered a sports exhibit similar to this one. The Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh of the US, has a similarly titled sports exhibit in the science center - Highmark Sportsworks, and there is an entire gallery of photos from the exhibit opening if you're curious.

Also, some more information over at  http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/exhibits/highmark-sportsworks/   

And that actually is it for the first run of Footsteps, ready for another lap for another type of exhibit. If you're interested in what could have been the next steps to frame up the fitness corner of a WOL gone by, feel free to stop by over at:

• Possibilities: A Greater Race Ahead, following the interactive jogging track activity similarly mentioned here

For the visitors on this page, I shall leave you with a question:

"If you have recently been to a sports exhibit in a science museum, where was it, what was its name, and how was it for you?"

Simply leave a heartfelt, nostalgic or interesting answer, (or even a creative response) in the comments section BELOW. Anywho, for those reading this, I would like to give thanks, and I recommend you stay tuned for the next post within WOL4EVA.

Until next time, readers!

Introducing Footsteps

Fellow blog readers, welcome to the very first post in the Footsteps series of this blog. Basically, what the Footsteps section is designed to do is to investigate the external exhibits outside WoL's borders (and then even outside the Disney World territory) that by comparative standards, would have taken a leaf from the book and filled the void of an otherwise forgotten aspect of the future. Of course, I am not going to accuse whoever's doing them of blatantly ripping off or 'stalking' the pavilion (no, no, no), but to basically introduce you to some other exhibits, serving as companions to the other exhibits, and basically to allow you to evaluate them.

To start off with, I'm basically going to start you off with something... first of all, I'll be writing about a similar-niche museum, situated in an exhibit in my country and nearest city. As I may recall, you can safely assume my family doesn't have the advantage to go on an overseas holiday, let alone Disney World in its prime. Now, I understand that while the educational side of EPCOT Center was what made it stand out, it just did not go well with some vacationers (the kind who doesn't like learning new things on holiday. Zzzzz...) And hence it changed to cater to new generations, almost to the expense of the educational aspects (well, at least according to the early EPCOT veterans).

For some reason, the rise of 'edutainment' with regards to exhibits designed to entertain is not necessarily confined to Mouse territory. Across science museums across the country, there are already museum exhibits designed to entertain and educate their patrons. A little like following in the footsteps of, yes, EPCOT Center. Therefore, this section of the blog would contain a few written articles on a selection of science museum exhibits, which for some reason, may have followed this principle to a new level. Of course, had the Wonders of Life pavilion chose to follow in their footsteps in a bid to cater to a changing audience (yet still retain the charm), then we would not have lost it in the first place.

And hence this new section of the blog. I have my selections of exhibits that could have currently filled in the niche of what Wonders have left behind in its disappearance, but if you have any other exhibit (well, fitting into this category) that you've currently been into, and which you would like me to write about, then feel free to write a comment after the blog post.

Until next time, readers!