"Evolving Interactive Exhibits (that teach science and technology)"

Jon Betthauser

TECH Musuem of Innovation & The Sibbett Group

Abstract: Exhibit designer JON BETTHAUSER will discuss and illustrate aspects of interactive exhibit design in the context of hands-on science museums and corporate installations. The talk will focus on three things:

• The TECH Museum of Innovation -- A preview of the new museum in San Jose, due to open 10/31.
• Prototyping interactive exhibits for The TECH -- An NSF supported process that has proven essential, expensive, and wildly successful.
• Secrets of interactive exhibit design -- Why some work and others don't.

Biography: JON BETTHAUSER has fused a lifelong interest in science and technology with a career in informal learning environments. Jon hopes, in his lifetime and through his work, to see museums move from glass boxes displaying objects from the past to activity environments aimed at conveying an understanding of how things are now, and how they will be. He has worked on the innovation gallery permanent collection at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, and consults from the Sibbett Group in San Francisco. In addition to his work at The TECH, Jon has had a hand in facilities for Samsung and Philips, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the California State Railroad Museum, the Bay Model Visitor's Center, the Energy Sciences Museum, and many, many more over the 18 years he's been in this business.