The 10,000 square-foot exhibit explores the fantasy technologies depicted in the Star Wars films, the real science behind them, and the current research that may someday lead to remarkable real-life versions of the technologies. It runs through January 6, 2008.
Guests will view more than 80 props, models and costumes from all six Star Wars movies and have the chance to see extensive interviews with filmmakers, scientists and engineers. Areas of the exhibit will allow guests to:
• Experience the feeling of riding in a personal hovercraft, while learning about what transit of the future might be like.
• Help "build" a spaceport, while discovering how to create a successful collaborative environment.
• Build and test their own speeders and droids, while experimenting with magnetic levitation and robotics, and more!
Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination was developed by the Museum of Science, Boston, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd. with the support of the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0307875. This exhibit is presented nationally by Bose Corporation and presented locally by the Motorola Foundation and Citadel.
Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination has two main theme areas. "Getting Around" focuses on transportation in the films as well as new and future modes of travel. The "Robots and People" section looks at the relationship between robots and humans on screen and in the real world. Within each of the two main theme areas of the exhibit are the Engineering Design Labs (EDL), where guests are presented with engineering challenges. For example, in the "Getting Around" theme area, which features Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder from Episode IV, guests are asked "How would you build a maglev car like Luke's Landspeeder?" Videos of real-world speeders and maglev trains in use around the world, coupled with accounts from the engineers who design them, help guests explore the facets of each technology involved in creating a floating vehicle.
Guests can climb into a real-world hovercraft and levitate for a few moments to feel what the next mode of mass transit might be like. Next, guests can begin to develop a levitating vehicle using magnets and LEGOs supplied in the Design Lab. The EDL process gives exhibit-goers an opportunity to imagine, create, and evaluate real-world technologies. In the case of creating a maglev car like the Landspeeder, guests build a floating speeder then test the vehicles they created by propelling them along a magnetic track. At the "Robots and People" area, guests will see displays of Star Wars robots like C-3PO and R2-D2.
Robot-enthusiasts can try to make a robot walk, test a robot that balances on two wheels, and even design facial expressions for an emotional robot. They also can explore the link between robotics and medicine. Medical researchers are adapting roboticists' designs to modern prosthetics. They are seeking new ways to integrate technology into the human body—replacing lost or damaged functions through complex implant systems, tapping signals directly from the brain to control a computer, and melding metal, tissue, and bone in the newest prosthetics. Modern prosthetics look much like the interesting medical technologies seen in Star Wars. Alongside Luke and Anakin's prosthetic hands and a Darth Vader costume will be real-world robotic legs, and neural and muscular implants that may allow people increased mobility.
Once guests have had a chance to explore fantasy and real-world robots, they can try building a droid. At the "Robots and People" EDL, the challenge is "How would you design a robot like R2-D2?" Activities focus on robot mobility, perception, and cognition. Guests can choose from a variety of wheels and sensors, and by following simple instructions, program their robot to navigate through the droid factory. Graphics, artifacts, and interactive video components will bring guests up to date on the latest research efforts related to specific technological challenges outlined in each EDL. For each challenge, the components will be designed and grouped to engage guests to inquire what, how, and why—essential questions to build technological literacy.
At the exhibit's Robot Object Theater, guests enter a large-scale model of the sandcrawler from Episode IV for an engaging presentation on robots. Inside the dark, rusted-steel interior of the sandcrawler, they come face-to-face with an animatronic version of beloved Star Wars robot, C-3PO. He is joined (via video projection) by rel-world robotics engineer Dr. Cynthia Breazeal, Director of the Robotic Life Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. The two have a thought-provoking and entertaining discussion on what makes a good robot. Breazeal takes on the issues of mobility, perception, and cognition in robotics. Along the way, she banters with C-3PO, recalling moments from his robot career to illustrate her points. -- www.msichicago.org
