If ever there were a museum in Second Life that feels and works like a real life museum, the Museum of Robots is it. I found it accidentally when I landed on the results of their 2008 robot building competition. There are dozens of beautifully detailed contest entries (both classic and original) spread across two regions. Every entry stand includes information about the creator and their inspiration.
Some of them are tremendously clever. Check out this little guy. At first he doesn’t seem like much a robot, but when you zoom in…
…you can see his inner workings, which consists of smaller robots running, among other things, what appears to be a wood stove.
If that weren’t enough, there’s museum itself. It’s packed with informational displays and movie clips (stand on the green circles). In many cases the robot is represented by a picture than a model, but the information cards and movies compensate for that lack.
On one level there is a section devoted to toy robots, which is much more interesting than I would have expected. But then, I never grew up.
The museum also has robot-themed art exhibitions that run for months at a time. The current one is Eric Joyners, “Robots and Donuts.” It’s hard to explain, but very entertaining. Every picture is accompanied by an informational note card, and some include sound clips of the artist explaining his work.
As I mentioned at the outset, the thing that impresses me most about the Museum of Robots is that it really feels like a real life museum. Between the richness of the information provided, the media content, organization, and presentation, it makes you see how a real life museum of the same sort could be viable. I’d pay for a ticket.
August 11, 2008 at 8:53 am
You find the most interesting places!