Multisensory exhibits have become museum staples around the world. These experiential exhibits not only tell more holistic stories; they’re a way for museums to push the envelope when it comes to displays.
Interactivity as a museum concept isn’t just a 2023 push either. It’s been in the works for years. Nowadays, though, we’re seeing a lot more experiential exhibits than we have in the past 25 years we’ve been around—both as museum visitors and as exhibit developers.
Here are a couple museum predictions for this year when it comes to experiential exhibits:
Museums will incorporate as many senses as possible into exhibits.
Drawing on all five senses is more immersive for folks, but it also inherently makes exhibits more accessible. The major concern for all of us is how to make immersive exhibits financially accessible to museums themselves (as well as for the visitors paying for entry). Disney has been creating rides for decades that utilize sight, touch, smell, and hearing. But how can the cost of that be reduced to less than tens of millions of dollars?
We expect to see more innovations around lowering the cost of these multisensory components. And we also anticipate museums to begin talking about adding “taste” into the mix.
If you’ve ever played one of those wine tasting kit games that were trendy about 15 years ago, you might remember paying close attention to all the parts of those wine samples—such as the tannins. Logistically and liability-wise, it’s a puzzle that museums could try to work out. We think they’re waiting for someone to crack the code.
Museums will seek out more specialists to maintain immersive exhibits.
Some museum exhibits have fallen to disrepair because of pandemic lay-offs and folks retiring from decades-long positions. Because of this, museums may be losing valuable foot traffic. Experiential exhibits aren’t as easy to maintain as permanent exhibitions. They often require specialists on call or on site to correct any hiccups. Because multisensory experiences are becoming the norm, we anticipate more folks will seek to learn the skills required to troubleshoot them.
Even the most complicated multisensory museum exhibit will be grounded in simplicity.
With experiential exhibits, it’s important to remember that the key is to make it simple at its core. We have a saying on our wall at the office: “The art of simplicity is the puzzle of complexity.”
The simplicity within multisensory exhibits makes them sing. So many times we’ve seen exhibits have too much going on—and paring them down would’ve made for a smoother experience.
We still remember visiting Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas decades ago. There was a cloud feature on the ceiling, and occasionally, thunderstorms rolled through (along with sounds of lightning and rain). Then it would fade and come back some time later. The concept was simple. In fact, they use similar techniques in Alzheimer’s units within nursing homes. In these nursing homes as well as in Las Vegas, you’re spending extended periods of time indoors. This experiential technique gives you the feeling of being outdoors even though you’re not and is a visual representation of time passing.
As you develop your next experiential exhibit for your museum, keep in mind the power of multisensory components to attract a broader audience. These technologies aren’t new, but we’re just beginning to scratch the surface of what they’re capable of—developing impactful, innovative displays that can get visitors through your doors for decades.