Hands-on exhibits are staples of science and children's museums around the world. The exhibits invite children to explore scientific concepts in fun and playful ways.
But do kids actually learn from them? Ideally, museum staff, parents or caregivers are on hand to help guide the children through the exhibits and facilitate learning, but that is not always possible.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) have demonstrated a more effective way to support learning and increase engagement. They used artificial intelligence (AI) to create a new genre of interactive, hands-on exhibits that includes a virtual assistant to interact with visitors.
When the researchers compared their intelligent exhibit to a traditional one, they found that the intelligent exhibit increased learning and the time spent at the exhibit.
"Having artificial intelligence and computer vision turned the play into learning," said Nesra Yannier, HCII faculty member and head of the project, who called the results "purposeful play."
Earthquake tables are popular exhibits. In a typical example, kids build towers and then watch them tumble on a shaking table. Signs around the exhibit try to engage kids in thinking about science as they play, but it is not clear how well these work or how often they are even read.
Yannier led a team of researchers that built an AI-enhanced earthquake table outfitted with a camera, touchscreen, large display and an intelligent agent, NoRilla, that replaced the signs. NoRilla — a virtual gorilla — interacts with participants, taking them through different challenges and asking questions about why towers did or didn't fall along the way and helping them make scientific discoveries.