THEA AWARDS
The highly educational and interactive environment displays scientific content in an artful and entertaining manner that is attractive to young guests fernbank naturequest
Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta, GA, USA MUSEUM EXHIBIT
NatureQuest is a new exhibit at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History that recreates the natural environments of Georgia, USA. Moun- tains, forests, swamps, estuaries, caves and underwater areas are connected by a virtual river teeming with fish, which originates at an interactive fog screen waterfall. The environments contain remnants of scientific field research and interactives for guest “sci-
62 Attractions Handbook 2012–2013
entists” to continue their research, such as an archaeological dig site, spelunker’s tools in an explorable cave and researcher notes in the swamp. The swamp and river have animal habitats that visitors can engage with. The centre of the attraction contains a clubhouse with exhibits where objects come to life while children’s play features themed to the envi- ronment provide active play experiences. This modest scaled and budgeted attraction (US$8m, £5.1m, e6.4m) is exceptionally well-themed and seamlessly integrates entertainment technology into a highly educational and interactive environment. Scientific content is artfully embedded into various aspects of the exhibit, such that the interactions with elements are very intuitive and interesting for its young audience. For
example, the fish in the river which are regionally accurate dart away or swim up as the children wade through, while nightvision viewers allow visitors to look at nocturnal animals in the swamp area.
There are more than 50 interactive elements in the exhibit. The scenery and lighting are well-designed to create a sense of wonder and discovery and many of the exhibits can be easily rotated with additional content provided by the designers. l
Client: Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta, GA, USA (
www.fernbankmuseum.org) TEA members on the project: Thinkwell Group, Kelly Ryner (
www.thinkwellgroup.com); Mousetrappe, Daren Ulmer (
www.mousetrapppe.com); and The Nassal Company, Matt Brown (
www.nassal.com)
www.attractionshandbook.com
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