Abstract

Pocket-change computing will radically change the museum and science centre experience over the next ten years. The Cambridge Science Centre (www.cambridgesciencecentre.org) is a seed-funded charity which is setting up a highly interactive science museum in Cambridge, and we’re playing around with Raspberry Pi as an embedded technology. Physical experience is a critical part of informal learning. We have developed a low-cost modular exhibit platform to get hands-on science out into under-served communities. We’ll introduce a couple of our exhibits which have been audience tested during a summer tour of Cambridgeshire libraries and talk about the tech behind the user experience. We’ll then open a discussion on how low-cost sensing and actuating can help broaden access and offer new ways to engage with interactive science exhibits. If you have ever enjoyed a science museum visit but thought “if only it had …”, or if you just like educational toys and gadgets, then this is a chance to voice some ideas and maybe get involved in our exhibit design community.