An interesting new exhibition opening Feb. 11 at the New York Hall of Science explores the medical and industrial breakthroughs that have helped enhance the human experience.
Bionic Me, created by Scitech of Perth, Australia, and produced by Imagine Exhibitions, will be opened from Feb. 11 through May 5, free with museum admission at the New York Hall of Science located at 47-01 111th St. in Corona.
“Imagine Exhibitions is proud to partner with Scitech to bring Bionic Me to the New York Hall of Science,” said Tom Zaller of Imagine Exhibitions, which is currently producing over 35 unique exhibitions globally in museums, science centers, zoos, integrated resorts and non-traditional venues. “This highly interactive exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to experience the multitude of ways that technology has enhanced human capability — and may just inspire the future engineers of tomorrow to find innovative solutions to everyday struggles.”
Through more than 20 exhibit components, visitors to Bionic Me will get a hands-on view of how technology can augment, and sometimes even surpass human abilities. Visitors can move a ball with their mind, manipulate a robotic arm, race against a Paralympian, use night vision to see in the dark, and explore how technology can provide camouflage and make you visible.
The exhibits include:
- 3D Printing – Feel how scientists are using 3D printing to communicate images via touch.
- Augmented Surgeon – Try to put the augmented body parts into the correct areas of the body.
- Bionic Eye – View the world through a bionic eye simulation.
- Body Technology – Interact with different body systems by moving a screen over areas of a human body. Investigate what you could augment in various areas of the body.
- Braille – Read Braille messages using your sense of touch.
- Camouflage – Explore how technology can provide active camouflage and make you invisible.
- Ethics Quiz – Consider ethical questions of body augmentation via an eye gaze-controlled quiz.
- Exoskeleton – Climb into an exoskeleton and control an on-screen avatar to investigate what you could do with enhanced strength.
- Hearing Test – Test your hearing range and discover how technology can enhance your hearing.
- Infrared Camera – View your world through an infra-red camera and large screen.
- Jet Pack – Put on a helmet and fly a virtual jetpack.
- Lenses – Experiment with a number of different lenses and investigate the effect on what we can see.
- Mind Control – Compete against a friend using a brain-computer interface to control a ball using the power of your mind.
- Motion Control – Use a gesture interface to control a robot arm and move a ball.
- Prosthetics – Use a sensor to control a prosthetic arm.
- Race Against a Paralympian – Prosthetics are advancing at a rate that they may soon surpass the ability of natural limbs. See how you fare in a race against a paralympian.
- Train Your Brain – Play a brain training game and investigate how it might affect your performance.
- Tunnel of Darkness – Explore a tunnel without using sight.
- UV Camera – View your skin using a UV camera. Experiment with sunscreen and see how much sun damage you have.
- Voice Control – Use voice commands to interact with appliances in a model house.
- What to Augment – Share your ideas on how you would like to augment your body.
- Wind Tunnel – Test different accessories in a wind tunnel to see how they feel and perform.
Bionic Me is free with museum admission ($16 adults, $13 children, students and senior citizens). For more information, visit nysci.org.
NYSCI is open Monday – Friday, 9:30 am to 5 p.m. and weekends, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. General admission is $16 for adults and $13 for children (ages 2-17), college students with valid ID, and seniors (62+). For more information, visit nysci.org or call 718-699-0005. Follow NYSCI on Twitter and Instagram: @nysci, and on Facebook at:facebook.com/nysci.
