So on to the Go Train, where Dan, I and the rest of the students made a woman feel so awkward with our Go Train movie trivia that she quickly moved up to the next level. But that's okay, because soon we were in Toronto and on our way to the subway.
One tiny token later and we were on the subway, headed to the Royal Ontario Museum to meet the rest of our class for the field trip of a lifetime.
Apparently we were a little late as half of our class was already there, but our speaker Brain Porter didn't seem to mind too much.
Brian took us into the ROM Digital Gallery, which consists of a giant screen and several different touch screens. As we waited for the show to start, so to speak, Brook and I played with the touch screen in front of us. Through the touch screen interface there was a choice between Ancient Egypt and Canadian Heritage. Into Egypt there are several different artefacts to look at, which can be rotated and zoomed in on with a few touches of the screen. One artefact from that section that I found particularly interesting was a canopic jar of Isis.
In Egyptian mythology Isis is the goddess of fertility and motherhood. She is the daughter of Earth and Sky or Keb and Sky in Eygptian. She is also the sister and wife of Osiris, Egyptian god of the underworld. There is even a neat story of her searching all over Egypt for the body parts of her dismembered husband which she gathered and returned to life.On the Canadian Heritage side there was a very cool looking pistol and a pair of children's shackles. According to the ROM the shackles are from Georgia, which made me wonder how they were part of Canadian Heritage...but we didn't really get to that part in the video.
But first, Brian Porter introduced himself as the Senior Director of New Media. He spoke a little bit about the improvements he has made at the ROM since he has been working there, such as digital photography, improvements to the website, 3D imaging of objects (as seen in the ROM Digital Gallery). Brian also mentioned that his job it to find new media funding for the ROM, Canada's Largest Museum.
He explained that the ROM is a charity and therefore gets it's funding from a variety of sources: government grants, donations, fundraisers etc. Brian also told us that Museums aren't pioneers, because they are charities, they only use proven technology that has been around for a while, that is reasonably priced. Later on Brian also mentioned how having a broad range of skills is essential in the job market.
Working for a charity myself, Performing Arts Burlington, I completely understand where he was coming from. And it made me wonder if that was the nature of charities as a whole. That everyone needs to be a jack of all trades, since there is never enough funding to go around. I mean, at PAB I'm an event planner, web designer, graphic designer, administrative assistant, membership invoicer, tech support....the list goes on.
After his speech, Brian started a film that the ROM staff had created based on Canadian Heritage and kids interacting with the touch screens. The film wasn't phenomenal, but descent quality based on limited funds. And as Brian put it, "If you were in 5th grade..." I finished his thought with, "...this would blow your mind!".
What blew Brook and my mind was seeing, Carlos Bustamante from YTV as the host/narrator of the movie.
Brian also showed us a touch screen available for the general museum public which scrolled through a list of people and companies that donated to the ROM and gave the history of the museum itself. It allowed users to easily find their name, since patrons want to see their name listed for sizable donations. The wall itself was very elegant and neat looking. Brian told us that he often finds people standing in front of the wall, interacting with it.
Perhaps I don't have enough faith in the average ROM visitor, but I can't see a lot of people touching the wall and interacting with it. No where does it say, "I'm an interactive wall, touch me!" I think that most users would walk by it, or perhaps stop and watch it scroll through, few would actually touch the screen and direct it's output. I mean, interactivity is great but if no one knows how to use it, what good is it?
On to the Dinosaurs! No trip to the ROM is complete without seeing the Dinosaur exhibit. Brian pointed out the touch screens used in that exhibit but I'm sure, like me, most of the class was more interested in the dinosaur exhibits themselves.
One really cool dinosaur was the Corythosaurus. Cory, of course got a few pictures and Dan got a picture of him and his dinosaur for posterity.
Onwards and upwards to the sound studio to meet Zak, a Sheridan alumni. Zak explained some of the things they do up in the sound studio, podcasting, soundtracks used in the creation of their videos like the one on Canadian Heritage etc. Being at the back of the group I couldn't quite hear everything Zak was talking about or see what he was doing. But he did tell everyone loud and clear that he loves his job and it is the perfect job for him.
And here's where things started going sideways.... Dan said that his friend Steve Mann's workshop was right across the street from the ROM. He was only off by a mile. A mile we ended up having to walk in the slush and snow....the entire class was soaked from the knees down. Except for Barbara and Dwight who were smart enough to drive.
Steve Mann, invited us in, with his famous head gear taking us all in. He was quick to explain that now that the world has moved into the cyborg age, he is no longer interested in being a cyborg himself, instead focusing on more primordial things, like water. Steve then showed us his new invention, the hydraulophone. Which is an instrument that uses water pumped through it to create sound. It's kinda cool and Steve even let us play with one he had set up in his workshop. Adrian even played chopsticks, which was pretty cool.
Our host explained to us that he had patented several different types of hydraulophones and that he was in talks to get them in several government buildings, city halls etc. Hydraulophones including the Nessie model pictured above, start at about $10,000. Which is quite reasonable if you have a government budget, but as someone pointed out, Steve is missing out on smaller markets like school playgrounds and daycares. But at $10,000 a pop, he might not care.
After 30 minutes Steve had to go to a meeting so the rest of us filed out of his workshop. Next stop, Silver Snail: Comic and Toy shop! Driven by the awesome Dwight...but that's another story....
So when the day was over, I got driven back to my car by Dan, which was nice, and it would have worked out much better had Sheridan not been in lockdown because of a scary looking tripod.
But the day did eventually end, with some warm socks. All and all it wasn't a horrible field trip, although I could have done without the miserable mile long walk. But the real problem was that the day really didn't have any multimedia pioneering in it at all. ROM director Brian Porter told us himself that museums aren't pioneers, that older technology is the best they can afford. Inventor Steve Mann told us that he was through with the cyborg age and was instead going back to his primordial roots. What Steve created could be called pioneering, but it certainly isn't of the multimedia variety.
So maybe the field trip wasn't a success on that front, but I still enjoyed myself...in the long run. Although the action figures from Silver Snail really helped.
Two other points of interest:
The title is Dan's response to a kind stranger who pointed out that he had dropped his toque. Jeff and I shared a chuckle over the classic Dan Zen response that was given.
And Brian Porter, while not working hard as a director of new media at the Royal Ontario Museum is actually a Secret Agent Man, according to his phone which plays the 007 theme when it rings. :)
Links for Marks:
Royal Ontario Museum Site: Podcasts made by the Sound Studio
Touch Screen Technology: How it Works
Virtual Musuem of Canada: Can't go to a museum? This is the next best thing.
Steve Mann's Fluid Site
Youtube Video on Hydraulophones: First prototype to installation at the Toronto Science Centre
And Brian Porter, while not working hard as a director of new media at the Royal Ontario Museum is actually a Secret Agent Man, according to his phone which plays the 007 theme when it rings. :)
Links for Marks:
Royal Ontario Museum Site: Podcasts made by the Sound Studio
Touch Screen Technology: How it Works
Virtual Musuem of Canada: Can't go to a museum? This is the next best thing.
Steve Mann's Fluid Site
Youtube Video on Hydraulophones: First prototype to installation at the Toronto Science Centre
