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Courtesy of The Magic House
In the Light Ball Orchestra room, large, internally-lit balls change color and emit sounds when they are touched.
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Courtesy of Magic House
In the Connecting Blocks area, kids can create their own digital road map by drawing on a large touch screen tabletop.
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Courtesy of Magic House
In the final area, kids layout a personalized hopscotch course by dragging and dropping colorful shapes on a tablet. The pattern is then projected on the floor for anyone to jump on.
Technology and hands-on creative play come together at The Magic House's Future Play: Art + Technology, a nationally touring exhibit that runs from May 28 through September 5. Future Play was built in collaboration with the Team Lab Kids, Inc., who helped create Sketch Aquarium, a digital fish tank located in Magic House's Wonder Works exhibit.
Future Play has four areas for kids to explore: Sketch Town, Light Ball Orchestra, Connecting Blocks and Hopscotch.
Courtesy of Magic House
Paper creations are given an animated digital life in Sketch Town.
Future Play's Sketch Town uses the same technology as the Sketch Aquarium. Kids draw pictures of cars or buildings using typical crayons and paper. Then they scan their drawing into a computer and watch it come to life as a digital projection on the wall. They will also get to take home a 3-D paper model of their drawing. Want a sneak peak? See Sketch Town in action at a Tokyo museum.
Soft, yoga-sized balls with internal lights fill the Light Ball Orchestra room (see photo above). The balls change color and emit sounds when they are touched, creating a room filled with visual and audible harmonies.
In the Connecting Blocks area, kids can create a digital road map by drawing on a large touch screen tabletop. As visitors put digital roads in place on the table, car and train animations automatically move along the roads.
Kids can also create a personalized hopscotch course by dragging and dropping colorful shapes on a tablet and projecting their individualized course on the floor for anyone to jump on.
After its first stop in St. Louis, Future Play will go on an international tour of children's museums. The exhibit will be at The Magic House May 28 through September 5 and is free with Museum admission.
