Blog post week 9/28/21-10/5/21


As I’ve been getting used to floor facilitation, I’ve been working to identify where I feel most and least comfortable at the museum. I’ll almost certainly be able to dedicate more blog posts to this, so today I wanted to focus on one exhibit that has perplexed me the most from the beginning: Mind Ball. 


One of my issues with Mind Ball is purely logistical. I decided to play around with it for a bit one morning before guests showed up, and found it frustrating that you can’t see the monitor while you’re playing. It feels a like you can only get half the experience at a time—either you can play the game, or you can watch the game’s progress.


My primary issue with Mind Ball, however, is more conceptual. I know that our exhibits are not concept-centered, but as a former neuroscience major, my curiosity was piqued when I was first introduced to Mind Ball. On a few occasions, I decided to test what would happen if you started the game without any players. When I did this in the middle of one of my shifts, the ball would still go to one side, and the monitor would declare a winner, even with no players present. It led me to hypothesize that the whole thing is just random, and the electrodes aren’t actually measuring anything. However, I tested this out again at the beginning of a shift, right after turning the exhibit on for the day. This time when I tried to start the game without any players, the ball stayed in the middle. Only when I got on one side of the table and put my forehead into the electrodes could I push it to the other end.


Since I have observed Mind Ball to work without any human input at all, I have trouble answering guests’ questions about how it works. I don’t know what might be causing that variability in its functioning. Conversely, I also find it challenging to apply MOXI’s experiential philosophy to Mind Ball, because the exploration guests can do with it is less concrete and communicable than other exhibits. You can’t see or touch the ideas of “focus” or “relaxation.”


For these reasons, I think I would personally enjoy Mind Ball more at a more concept-based science museum, that would include more detailed signage that explains how it works, and what limitations exist with the technology. This is, of course, just my perspective as someone who has studied neuroscience, and who enjoys more conceptually-focused exhibits. I would be curious to know more about what our guests tend to think about Mind Ball. Are they often curious about how it works? Do they tend not to care about the logistics, and just enjoy watching the ball move?


I’d love to know anyone else’s thoughts on Mind Ball, and any tips for facilitation and handling guest questions about it!

Comments

  1. KJWOctober 8, 2021 at 10:00 AM

    Mindball! The great challenge! I think you have identified one of the great challenges of Mindball - that the sensors are fairly crude and pick up a lot of "noise" - ie, why someone can win the game without being there.
    I recommend bringing another Spark to join you in playing around with the exhibit. Knowing that the exhibit "measures" brain waves connected with relaxation and focus, how would your exploration change using two people?

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