Advanced Interactive Media/Other Topics/Interactive Media in Museums - Hotspot: Washington D.C.

Interactive media is impacting museum exhibits around the world, especially in Washington D.C.

The latest museum to incorporate interactive media is the soon-to-be opened “Newseum” in Washington D.C. The Newseum is a 250,000-square-foot museum of news which offers its visitors five centuries of news history, up-to-the-second technology, and hands-on exhibits. It will feature seven levels of galleries, theaters, retail spaces, and visitor services and will gives its visitors a unique look behind the scenes of how and why news is made.

Some of its interactive features include a fully interactive newsroom, interactive news history gallery, a book and text database, and a 4-D digital theater.

The Interactive Newsroom gives museum-goers a chance to play the role of a reporter or photographer. There are touch-screen stations that provide the reporting tools and techniques needed to see what it takes to be a newspaper reporter or photographer. There are also eight “Be A Broadcaster” stations where visitors can actually pick up a microphone, step in front of a camera, and experience what it is like to be a TV broadcaster.



In the News History gallery, visitors can view a timeline of the Newseum’s extensive collection of historic newspapers and magazines. Within the timeline are 10 touch-screens with games, a database of journalists, and close-up views of hundreds of publications. There are also five theaters that feature different videos on the recurring issues that confront journalists.

The Great Books gallery houses four interactive kiosks that allow visitors to zoom-in and view close-up pages of some of history’s most important texts and documents.



Another very immersive form of interactive media being incorporated into the Newseum is the Forum Theater. This state-of-the-art digital theater allows visitors to feel as if they are standing next to Edward R. Murow on a London rooftop as he delivers a live radio report during World War II. They also can go undercover with Nellie Bly as she exposes horrendous conditions in a 19th century insane asylum. The theater consists of a 3-D film, theatrical special effects and motion controlled seats that take visitors on a journalistic trip through time to experience some of the world’s most dramatic news stories. The theater seats up to 535 people and is equipped for live broadcasts and programs.

The Newseum is not the only museum in Washington D.C. jumping on the interactive train though. Other museums are the Marian Koshland Science Museum, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum , and the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center just to name a few. Interactive media is not only working its way into video games and other entertainment venues, but is also being used to educate museum-goers. This is a trend that will only increase as the high-touch era continues to grow.