Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Heartbeat Drum -- What more can we do on "passive" exhibits?


Heartbeat Drum

Levels of Engagement:
         I.      Look / watch – guests look at it or watch others using it
       II.      Hands on and watch – guests put their hands on and observe what happens
     III.      Investigate what the beating is – either ask a spark or investigate on their own what the beating is
    IV.      Design games / challenges – figuring out ways you could potentially manipulate the drum
      V.      Testing / competing – actually manipulating the drum

Observing:
Senses used:
  •  Sight – watching the mallet moving
  •  Sound – listening to the beat
  • Touch – having their hands on the sensors; feeling the beat if they touch the drum

Observing can be done in all levels essentially. They can observe as a bystander, listening and watching. When they actually interact, they would observe what they are feeling, seeing, and hearing. Going deeper, they will use their observations to make predictions, form questions, and confirm/deny predictions.

Asking questions:
    Some questions that guests could ask at the heartbeat drum include:
              What does the beat represent?
              Why does it stop when I remove my hands?
              Would it work if I put my forearm on the sensor instead of my hand?
              How could I make the beat go faster/slower?
              Can we synchronize our heartbeats with each other?
              How does the sensor read my pulse?
              How does the drum keep the beat perfectly in real-time? Or does it?


[EDIT]

Today I got the chance (for the first time) to actually facilitate the Heartbeat Drum! I was surprised that we did not talk about any of the questions that I had written down above. Instead we ended up focusing on the metal sensors. I hadn't thought of that as a point of entry or large interest but I realized quickly that talking about the sensors seemed to hit a quite a few, if not all, engagement levels. We talked about if the metal meant something, if it would work if we didn't put our hands specifically there, what the metal was doing, etc. And from investigating this we talked about how they could manipulate their heart rates and watch it change the drum!






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