Exhibit Critique

Exhibit Critique


Giant Mirror

This exhibit was one of my favorites, because it captures the wonder factor while being interactive and getting people curious about reflections.


Aesthetics 

I enjoyed the set up of this exhibit.  The mirror is large and in a central.  The walls behind the mirror, and the fabric and stand around the mirror are painted black and make it stand in stark contrast to its surroundings.  These factors drew people toward the exhibit, causing people to interact not only with the mirror but with the other people looking at exhibit.  I think the contrast effect between the mirror and its surroundings could have been stronger if the exit sign had not been placed directly above the mirror and if the railing had been darker.




Interaction
Throughout the time I was looking at the Giant Mirror their was a crowd of people. Because of the way the reflection works people far away where forced to interact with people standing close to the mirror.  The exhibit also did a great job of inviting people to interact with it before they know what the exhibit is about.

Explanation/Curiosity 
I also really enjoyed this exhibit because I thought it had a very good simple explanation of what is actually going on with the curved mirror. Many of the exhibits I looked at did not have an explanation.  I found this a little frustrating, because I would try to figure out why the exhibit worked but never know if my guesses where correct.  The explanation here was very brief thus it did not stifle creative thinking and thought.  It is was also simple enough for a wide range of people to understand it. Also because the mirror was so large and clean the concept the switch of reflect type before and after the focal point is clearly illustrated.

Look Into Infinity

This was an exhibit I did not like.  The concept it was trying to convey is pretty interesting, however the execution is not great.

Aesthetics

The exhibit is a square black box shoved against the wall. It has odd pipes all around it.   These effects make the exhibit look like some sort of utility box and I could only tell it was an exhibit by reading labels. The box was also very flimsy and wobbled when I used the exhibit.

 Interaction

This exhibit required the user to put their eyes in two holes to see the effect of the never ending reflections.  I did not like this because it is a singular experience and I think one of the best parts of exploratorium exhibits is they foster learning through collaboration.

Curiosity

The mirrors of the exhibit displayed the infinite reflection well and I like the idea of having the user place their hand inside so that their hand becomes the infinite reflection. However I found both the eyeholes and the openness of the box very distracting from the desired effect of the infinite reflection.