Check out this newest experiment with making virtual museums!
Touch the 360° image to begin exploring, objects to learn about them, “i”s to learn about the museums, and doors to enter the virtual museums.
If you can’t see it, or it isn’t working, you can also see it directly on Kuula.
Here is the backstory of how it came to be and how to use it!
Once upon a time, about a decade ago, I led an initiative to start something called the NEW Computer Museum. One of the best parts of the experience was getting to visit a lot of computer museums around the country.
My favorite one was the Living Computer Museum (LCM). I posted about my visit here. LCM was near and dear to my heart because it was most like the museum my colleagues and I hoped to start.
That is why I was sad to hear that LCM, which was started by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (who died in 2018), has closed and much of what was there is being auctioned. Here is a story that explains more about this.
Seattle’s Living Computers Museum logs off for good as Paul Allen estate will auction vintage items (Kurt Schlosser, GeekWire)
Here is a link to the auction which began on August 23rd and will end on September 12th at 12PM (EDT).
Firsts: The History of Computing from the Paul G. Allen Collection (Christie’s)
As sad as it makes me, I can’t resist peeking at the auction sometimes.
This was making me miss LCM, and then I remembered that they made a virtual version of it, so I decided to go for a visit. You can visit it here.
That got me feeling nostalgic about other computer museums, so I started looking to see if any others had “virtual” versions. They did! One thing led to another, and pretty soon I had visited even more “virtual computer museums” than I ever did in real life.
Along the way an idea started to take shape. Why was I the only one getting to have all of this fun? Wouldn’t other computer history buffs enjoy it?
Even better, couldn’t computer science students get something out of it?
I started to think about posting a list of “virtual computer museums.”
Then it hit me — I’ve been making virtual museums for over a decade.
Instead of a list, why not make a virtual space with 3D links?
Voila!
The result is what you see above.
In addition to the “doors” to virtual computer museums and “i” links to the museum’s websites, I added links to some additional educational content.
Finally, I put together a Scavenger hunt with twenty questions that are arranged “roughly” in order of difficulty. This is to give teachers an easy way to turn these “virtual field trips” into a classroom activity.
Computer Museums Scavenger Hunt
Where can you …
1. see a Pong exhibit?
2. hear Steve Jobs telling stories?
3. walk under software?
4. see a massive timeline of computers and other technologies?
5. learn a lot about Microsoft’s history?
6. learn about Napiers’ Bones?
7. see exhibit about Apollo 11?
8. see the biggest room of mainframes?
9. see the most Crays?
10. see Antikythera Mechanism exhibit?
11. see large poster about the history of microprocessors?
12. see Air Traffic Control exhibit?
13. see Computers in Movies exhibit?
14. visit Brian Sutton-Smith Library?
15. find a Marconi TAC from Wylfa Nuclear Power Station?
16. see a human-sized slide rule?
17. see a Doomsday machine?
18. watch videos of paper tape?
19. see and learn about MOS 6502?
20. see a UNIVAC 490 up-close?
Happy Computer Museum Travels!
p.s. If you happen to know any computer history buffs, computer science students, or more importantly, teachers, please share this with them!