DINOSAUR DEMO CARTS
developing experiences through prototyping
I was hired by the Ohio State University Linguistics Department to create three educator-facilitated demo carts for the Labs in Life at COSI to accompany the opening of a new major dinosaur exhibition at the science center. University student educators in the Language Lab now use the demos as part of their programming for COSI visitors.
The demos teach visitors about different elements of human and dinosaur communication including types of communication, scientific vs. fictional dinosaur vocalizations, and reconstructions of dinosaur hearing.
dinosaur communication
Through play with toy dinosaurs, visitors explore what "communication" means, from the complex language of humans to the signaling and vocalization of dinosaurs
T. rex & Threat Behavior
Stegosaurus & Defense Mechanisms
Triceratops & Mate Selection
Parasauralophus & Group Identification
prehistoric voices
Visitors guess which of three sound effects match which animal, and are often surprised to find that scientists believe the T. rex probably sounded more like a modern ostrich than the elephant calls Hollywood sound designers manipulate to create movie monsters
dinosaur hearing
Visitors compare inner ear models of humans, birds, and dinosaurs to see what morphology can tell us about the sounds dinosaurs could (and could not) have heard
creating the demos
These demo carts were developed through an iterative development process that involved cycles of prototyping and revision — check out the evaluation reports below to learn more