T-rex’s cousin, the tarbosaurus, roars as it hunts for prey among the vegetation in a scientifi cally accurate themed environment
Blanchard. “These very realistic, life-size creatures thrash about in the space, so to accurately capture them throughout the stages of development was critical,” he recalls. “We also had to combine the various elements of narrative sequence, theatrical sequence, habitat extent, lighting, sound, special effects and visitor reach – visitors love to pull out teeth and claws!” The exhibition has been designed to
integrate both the specimen-rich areas with the environments to provide a seamless journey. Similar specimens to the ani- matronics are displayed in the information areas. “By looking through the specimens, people can piece together the evidence and understand why we thought the fern looked like that or why we chose a particu- lar colour for a dinosaur,” Bishop explains. “We’ve been able to have the fun and
thrills and spills of the environment and have layered in the information for people to access if they want to,” she continues.
“You could go round and just read the label titles and have a great experience, but if you’re particularly interested and want to delve a bit deeper, you can read about the science that goes on here at the museum and fi nd out more about the specimens and where they were found.” Given the wide range of material avail- able, as well as the vast period of time
AM 3 2011 ©cybertrek 2011
“WE MATCHED THE DINOSAURS UP SO THAT, IN THEORY, THEY COULD HAVE BEEN IN THE SAME ENVIRONMENT AT THE SAME TIME. WE CHOSE PLANT AND MEAT EATERS SO PEOPLE SEE THE DIVERSITY OF THE SPECIES”
(dinosaurs were on earth from the Triassic period 251 million years ago until the end of the Cretaceous period 65.5 million years ago), I wonder if it was diffi cult select- ing which dinosaurs and eras to display. Bishop explains that they focused on dino- saurs that lived at the same time. “In the immersive environments, we feature fi ve dinosaurs that were found in Mongolia dur- ing the Cretaceous period,” she says. “We matched them up so that, in theory, they could have been in the same environment at the same time. That helped us narrow down our selection. We chose a range of dinosaurs – some plant eaters and some meat eaters – so people could see the diversity of the different species. We wanted a big wow at the end, hence why we chose the tarbosaurus. It’s a very close cousin of the T-rex.”
THE TECHNOLOGY Apart from the small bird, the archaeop- teryx, which was made by a UK company called Crawley Creatures, based in Buckingham, the animatronics were made
by Japanese company Kokoro Company Ltd. “We have a long-standing relationship with them,” says Bishop. “They continu- ously improve and make their animatronics ever more realistic.” The animatronics are controlled by pneumatics and incorporate state-of-the-art servo technology. In the interactive area, information and
images are projected down onto a fl at tabletop and touch sensors in the tabletop allow people to use the interface easily.
TOURING EXHIBITION The exhibition took 18 months from the initial idea to its opening and can fi t into spaces from 650sq m (7,000sq ft) to
1,000sq m (10,700sq ft). Being a touring exhibition, it had dif-
ferent design criteria to a permanent one. “Our objective was to deliver an experien- tial show that’s robust, adaptive, functional and can tour the world,” says Blanchard.
“Touring exhibitions have to be sturdier than permanent exhibitions. Robustness is one of the key driving factors of touring show design, as each component from
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