Lost in Sensors is an interactive installation focusing on new technology. By showing primarily early-teen girls how the sensors in a smartphone work, and making them aware of each of the sensor's possibility, it aims to enhance girls' interest in technology.
Today, many girls don’t get the technology skills required, and are lost behind the boys at the same age. This is a challenge in our society, and it is important to prioritize girls in relation to technology.
Several museums have been established with a primary focus to bring technology and science closer to the general public. These museums, called science centers, often feature a more hands-on approach compared to classic museums.
The largest science center in the Nordic countries is Universeum in Gothenburg, Sweden. A goal for Universeum the coming years is to make girls aged 12-14 more intereseted in the technological exhibitions and technology in general.
The team started out with researching what possibilities there are in sensors, and what had already been done in the field.
Rapid hardware and software prototyping was used. The design was iterated to make the experience as interesting as possible, while comforming to what was techically feasible.
To catch the attentionof the girls a role model was chosen to create a narrative. As the installation would be located in the space area at Universeum, a Swedish-American astronaut named Jessica Meir were chosen as protagonist. She has a master’s degree in space research and has been trained as a NASA astronaut since.
An interactive poster and the game serve to both draw interest to the sensor technology and to enable learning.
At the poster, users can test the different sensors. In the prototype a Hall sensor (magnetometer), a light meter, and a proximity sensor have been connected.
A computer vision based table, connected to a screen, serves the purpose of gamifying the learning experience.