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Planning and Design Consulting


Working with clients to plan and create exhibitions and attractions


The timeline of life on our planet dates from 250 million years ago to the present day


FIRST PERSON EXPERIENCE


Kathleen Whyman


A


n unseen beast snarls eerily in the distance. The air is dank and


heavy. The ground begins to tremble. I swallow nervously. To my right, the foli- age moves, and a head, attached to an extremely long neck, swerves towards me. The mouth opens and the camarasau- raus bellows loudly. I can’t help but jump, much to the amusement of the group of school children behind me. The camara- sauraus eyes me for a moment before turning its attention to the lush plant life that forms its habitat. The children giggle and move on, eager to see the next ani- matronic dinosaur, but I remain, transfi xed by the creature before me. Clearly it’s not real, but animatronic wizardry is such that I can’t help but be blown away by how lifelike the dinosaur seems. And by how scientists can possibly know so much about these extinct creatures. I struggle to fi nd out what my daughter does at school each day, so for people to glean facts about what happened 65.5 million years ago is staggering. My admiration continues as I visit the


other animatronic dinosaurs, each in a themed area, mirroring what would have been their natural habitat. The big fi nish is a gigantic tarbosaurus (T-rex’s cousin) roaring above an oviraptor, which valiantly tries to protect its eggs. The attention to detail is superb and the way the dinosaurs move is stunning. Although a family attrac-


AM 3 2011 ©cybertrek 2011


tion, I’d be wary of bringing very young children, unless they’re particularly fear- less, as I suspect they could be terrifi ed – or perhaps that’s the appeal. The animatronics are just one element


of the exhibition though. It also offers an easy to understand timeline of life on our planet dating from 250 million years ago to the present day. Specimens include a 140 million-year-old turtle shell and a ste- gosaur’s tail spike dating back 151 million years. A pile of fossilised dinosaur faeces, from which prehistoric leaves have been extracted, is another highlight, which is bound to be popular with children. The exhibition also showcases fossils of dinosaurs, plants and water reptiles with as little, or as much, information available as you’re interested in reading. Many of the exhibits are hands-on. One


that was proving particularly popular with the school group was a computerised scrapbook that you create by collecting games, virtual specimens and dino facts. By scanning the barcode on your ticket, the information is stored and can be viewed online at home. Unable to get near the gadgets, I was


content to touch the life-size cast of a T-rex’s footprint and discover that my hand is the size of just one of its claws. At the end of the exhibit, visitors are


reminded that humans have only been around for 100,000 years, and asks what we think the dominant species will be in another 65 million years. Luckily the museum shop was the next stop, so I was able to absorb myself in the merchandise before my head started hurting from pon- dering the answer to that question. ●


Consulting services Our key services include:


• interpretive planning


• exhibit and gallery development • facilities assessment • feasibility studies


Animatronics


Designed, developed and created from your imagination especially for: • theme Parks • attractions • aquariums • science Centres • museums • zoos


Planning and Design Consulting The Natural History Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD


Tel: +44 (0) 20 7942 5767 Email: A.Sanders@nhm.ac.uk


www.nhm.ac.uk/planning-design


PHOTO: NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM


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