The Tech Museum of Innovation

Location
San Jose, CA

The Tech was another institution that had a very disappointing entry. We entered into a sterile space that had a snackbar off to one side. There was no wow moment here. Once we moved through the entry, we immediately went up the escalator since it seemed like what was intended. On the upper floor, we found lots of interactive digital experiences. Their Reboot Reality area was packed with virtual and augmented reality experiences. We did the flight simulator and the Tilt Brush by Google. Both were fun, but limited to an individual experience.

When we moved to the lowest level, we had a ‘WOW’ moment, but it felt like it was late to our overall experience. On the lower level, we also found the most relevant exhibit to our summer research. The Mind Wave Body Metrics by Local Projects measures an individual’s whole experience through brain waves and different sensory technology. It tracts that information with an ipod touch and a headset. It’s part of an ongoing 10 year project collecting data on experiential design!