tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post7794036639068747571..comments2023-10-29T06:50:22.166-04:00Comments on Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs: Sue vs. Mecha-SueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-52725001201633456602010-07-27T13:11:20.999-04:002010-07-27T13:11:20.999-04:00To me, once you step away from showing just the bo...To me, once you step away from showing just the body block containing Dakota, or photos of the dig site, you are venturing into the realm of edutainment. And dating back at least to the Crystal Palace dinosaurs, what the public has seemed to want is a recreation that will aid their imagination in picturing what these amazing creatures looked like when they were alive. <br /><br />The scene from JP where our hero first wanders out and sees the herds of dinos really captures what I think many of us dream of and what the museums are trying to provide us.<br /><br />A local children's science museum recently had a travelling display of some of those rubber robot dinos. It was fairly low-budget as these things go, and the 3YO and 12YO with me moved through pretty quickly and were off to other exhibits, but I lingered and let myself by transported by the atmosphere and tried to ignore the part of my brain telling me to notice whether the T-Rex was scavenging or hunting, or whether you could see the rubber joints on the neck of the apatosaur.<br /><br />I suspect that the holodeck is pretty close. I just hope they don't develop the code using frog DNA as a tool, or hire that guy from Seinfeld to do the coding.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18335703640087079534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-60781839210754936982010-07-27T11:53:07.817-04:002010-07-27T11:53:07.817-04:00Yeah, I agree with you. I guess I just question th...Yeah, I agree with you. I guess I just question the assumption that these kind of exhibits are truly what the public wants. I really don't know. I suppose that it's just the way the world works: technology makes something possible, it's tried out, and people either bite or don't. I'm sure that museums don't drop millions of dollars on exhibits without some certainty that they will pay off. And as long as the more traditional exhibits still have their rightful prominent place, I can't argue against robots and 3-D movies and whatever kind of whiz-bang thing is invented next. VR? Holodecks? I think that professionals get involved with museums because at some level, they believe in them, and had formative experiences in them. It's certainly not to get rich. I'm not afraid of the classic museum experience going extinct.<br /><br />Heck, if a holodeck happens in my life time, I'll be in line with everyone else.davorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04970830405883835452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-65757627639158937452010-07-27T11:14:10.424-04:002010-07-27T11:14:10.424-04:00I think museums are in the difficult position of t...I think museums are in the difficult position of trying to perform an academic mission as a commercial institution. If they don't provide exhibits that the public wants to see, they won't be able to afford future exhibits and they won't be able to perform their mission as educators due to a lack of students.<br /><br />As long as the science is there, robotic reconstructions are just an evolving part of the package. After all, simply mounting the fossil (or a cast of the fossil) is also just a reconstruction and subject to inaccuracy. At the turn of the 20th century, a mounted fossil, as opposed to just rocks in a drawer, was a state-of-the-art special effect, and if the Hadrosaur's tail wasn't as long, and its butt not as big, as subsequent discoveries have made them out to be, then that display just needs to adapt to keep up with the science. The same principle can be applied to robots or 3-D movies.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18335703640087079534noreply@blogger.com