MuseumEXP Glass Barn and Indiana Soybean Alliance
Glass Barn
Debuting at the Indiana State Fair, the Glass Barn educates Hoosiers year-round about the important role soybeans play in their state’s agriculture. We worked with the Indiana Soybean Alliance as well as Museum EXP to yield a bumper crop of three interactive experiences which allow young people to learn more about the importance of soy.
Combine Simulator
Built into an actual combine harvester, this simulator places museum visitors behind the wheel of a gigantic, state-of-the-art piece of farm equipment. As they sit in the cab, users see the rows of soybeans extracted and processed by their combine. To the side, another screen shows the machine’s progress from a satellite view. Midway through the harvest another tractor approaches to funnel off some of the user’s beans so they can keep harvesting. In the end, viewers understand much more about the latest technology in crop maintenance.
Soy Shopping Spree
Following the great success of the combine exhibit, we collaborated with the museum on an interactive shopping experience. Kids race the clock to scan as many items as they can and learn how soybeans touch all our lives. The Soy Shopping Spree uses RFID technology to scan the products and inform users about the soy ingredients they contain. In addition to developing the interactive component, we helped create the physical scanning technology that makes the experience possible.
Soy You Think You Can Farm
This standing, cabinet-style game takes players back to the exciting days of coin-op arcades as they use a joystick to tend crops in top-down view. First the players sow the soybeans with a harvester. Then, as their crop grows, they use drones to spray for weeds and control pests. Finally players harvest their bounty to sell to market. In addition to the hardware version, we built a web version so museum visitors could take the farming fun home.
In Real Life
Designing for a variety of physical interfaces gave us an opportunity to reach viewers in the real world. We spec’d and sourced hardware, and supported the installation process and on-site testing. The hands-on experience of visitors to the Glass Barn makes learning about agriculture engaging and exciting.
