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Neil Armstrong Space Exploration Gallery

Education | Museum

Working in collaboration with the Cincinnati Museum Center and PGAV Destinations, Balance Studios  designed and developed five media-driven visitor experiences for the Neil Armstrong Space Exploration Gallery.  Our team produced entertaining, educational experiences to bring into focus the technologies, people and events associated with the Apollo 11 space program that culminated in the historic moon landing on July 20, 1969.  Activities include a fast-paced presentation of fun facts about the US space program, a photo/video capture experience that gives visitors the chance to take their “first step” onto the lunar surface, and a touch screen interactive allows visitors to pilot the lunar lander to a soft landing onto the moon’s surface. 

Project image — left
Project image — right
Moonwalk Projection

Moonwalk Projection

Looping Video Projection

Working with historic NASA footage of the Apollo 11 mission, Balance Studios assembled a dramatic two-minute video program highlighting Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin activity on the moon’s surface.  The looping video content was projected onto a wall of the exhibit gallery.  

Bok the Rock Audio

Bok the Rock Audio

Motion-Activated Audio Program

To help tell the story of the moon rock Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong donated to the Cincinnati Museum Center in 2009, Balance Studios created a one-minute, motion-activated audio program that presents excerpts from Armstrong’s story of the 3-billion-year-old Moon Rock he named Bok.   

Armstrong’s audio clip recounts how Bok’s life began on Earth until a collision with an asteroid catapulted it into orbit during the creation of the Moon.  Armstrong tells a whimsical story about how, from the Moon’s surface, Bok watches the developing planet change from afar–until a strange creature (Astronaut Armstrong) scoops him up and brings him back to Earth. 

Space Shots

Space Shots

Touch Screen Application

This touch screen interactive offers visitors three different activities with simple on-screen navigation elements that allow easy switching between any of the three activities.    

One experience features a series of five articles about space and space exploration in a slideshow format, each containing imagery and text.  Topics include “5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Neil Armstrong” and “What’s Next in Space Exploration.”  

Another experience allows visitors to test their knowledge about space exploration history, the astronauts who participated in Apollo 11 and even learn about what kind of NASA jobs might be in their future, based upon their hobbies.  Quiz topics include “Can You Pack the Perfect Lunch for Space?” and “How Well Do You Know the Apollo 11 Mission?”  

The third touch screen interactive allows visitors to select and view up to five historic videos about the Apollo 11 mission.  Featured videos include launch footage of the Apollo 11 rocket, footage inside the command module while in space, and the return of the three Apollo 11 astronauts to earth.

Flight Director

Flight Director

Touch Screen Application

Visitors have a chance to be part of the Apollo 11 Mission Control team in this touch screen interactive that challenges users to help safely land the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander on the moon’s surface by hearing and assessing a series of landing-related mission alarms derived from a series of historic audio transcripts from the actual Apollo 11 landing. As visitors hear six different mission alarms, they must determine the significance of the alarm situation, and determine a “Go” or “No Go” status for the lunar landing. 

Snoopy Cap

Snoopy Cap

Touch Screen Application

This photo/audio capture interactive allows visitors to create their own version of Neil Armstrong’s historic “first step” onto the surface of the moon.  Visitors watch a short video of Armstrong’s epic first words as he stepped onto the moon (“One small step for man…”) and then create their own take-away version of this historic moment.  

Visitors take a selfie to see their own face in a space suit (including the communications cap, also known as the “Snoopy Cap”) and record their own first words as if they are taking their own first steps on the surface of the moon.  After capturing their astronaut image and recording their first words, they enter their email address, and receive an email with a link to a branded one-page website where they can download their astronaut photo and audio recording that they can share with social networks.  

Balance Studios created a custom online database application for the experience to capture and save visitor information and their own photo/video.  The online database application (hosted at a password protected website URL) allows the application administrator to easily export visitor contact information and images directly to a spreadsheet file. 

The Idea

Create an interactive experience that informs and entertains visitors in ways that gives them control over how they engage with information about the Apollo 11 moon landing.  Create activities that connect visitors with a variety of content elements in fun, fast-paced ways, and provide personalized engagements that offer visitors the chance to put their personal stamp on the experience, including take-aways they can share with social networks 

Services

Visitors appreciate the opportunity to see and learn something about themselves when they explore this kind of science and history exhibit.  Our team developed a wide range of photo, video, text, and audio content in ways that put the visitor in the “driver’s seat” providing simple, fast-paced ways to navigate and engage with the content.  We gave visitors opportunities to personalize their experience, creating content based on the choices they made, suitable for sharing on social networks.  Behind the scenes, we developed a variety of back-end tools to provide easy, reliable management of content in each experience and manage the capture of specific visitor information.  

The Result

The interactive and media elements we developed for the exhibit are still enjoyed by adults and kids alike. In response to the COVID crisis, our team also developed a temporary web-residing program that gave web visitors the chance to engage with the interactives via their cell phones. 

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We'd love to hear about your project and explore how immersive technology can bring your vision to life.

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