Museums Embrace Interactive Technology to Deliver Immersive Visitor Experiences
As public expectations for engaging and interactive exhibits continue to rise, museums and science centers are increasingly turning to advanced technologies to create more immersive and educational experiences. Chicago’s Griffin Museum of Science and Industry recently offered a prime example with its innovative "007 Science: Inventing the World of James Bond" exhibit, which ran from March 2024 through April 2025. The exhibit employed a variety of digital tools to bring the iconic world of James Bond to life, merging entertainment with education.
Bringing James Bond’s World to Life
For an entire year, visitors at the Griffin Museum stepped into the high-tech, stylish realm of James Bond, exploring famous spy gadgets, vehicles, and stunts from all 26 Bond films. Highlighted was the damaged Aston Martin DBS from the 2006 film Casino Royale, notable for surviving an on-screen crash involving seven barrel rolls—an achievement recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. Complementing the physical exhibits, TVs and projection screens played related movie scenes, such as actor Daniel Craig’s dramatic crash sequence, providing context and enhancing the narrative.
What set the exhibit apart were the interactive experiences powered by PCs and touch-screen technology. Museumgoers could design their own spy cars, craft gadgets, and orchestrate stunts, then test their creations through simulations. “We wanted them to make decisions, to feel like they were agents within the world of James Bond,” said Erik Andersen, Griffin MSI’s Featured Experiences and Special Projects Manager.
The Role of Technology in Modern Exhibits
The integration of technology represents a broader trend among nonprofit museums and public science centers that aim to enliven visitor engagement and cater to evolving visitor expectations. “People’s expectations for interactivity have gone up tremendously over the past few decades, especially for kids who are exposed to electronics everywhere,” explained Bob O’Donnell, president and chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research.
Rather than relying on static displays, museums now leverage commercially available tech including projectors, touch screens, robotics, and actuators to create dynamic learning environments. Such tools help visitors grasp complex scientific concepts by enabling hands-on experimentation and vivid multimedia presentations. “These technologies allow exhibits to come to life and make them more intuitive and engaging,” O’Donnell said.
At the Griffin Museum’s Bond exhibit, visitors explored the science and engineering behind spy gadgets that often inspired real-world espionage innovations. The 13,000-square-foot, two-gallery exhibit featured more than 90 artifacts and 13 vehicles, including the famous jet pack from Thunderball.
Immersive Technologies Employed
To deepen immersion, the museum deployed approximately a dozen ceiling-mounted Epson projectors with short-throw lenses to display movie clips illustrating how the gadgets and vehicles functioned, such as the Q Boat equipped with torpedo launchers and jet thrusters from The World Is Not Enough. “Showing the movie clips was important because it puts the artifact in context and really elevates it,” Andersen remarked.
Interactive stations featuring multiple 32-inch ELO touch screens allowed guests to:
- Outfit Bond cars with mission-specific gadgets like ejector seats.
- Create spy devices tailored for espionage scenarios.
- Design and simulate stunts by adjusting variables such as car speed and ramp height.
Most of the PCs driving these experiences were securely housed in server racks within the museum, while certain features like an interactive digital shark tank—recreating Bond’s daring escape in Thunderball—used local PCs positioned nearby. The shark tank, displayed on a 98-inch ViewSonic touch screen, gave museumgoers a jump scare as a shark appeared to crack the screen and lunge toward them.
Sustainable Technology Use Beyond the Exhibit
With the conclusion of the Bond exhibit, much of the technology infrastructure has been repurposed for other museum exhibits, illustrating how digital investments can have lasting value. Andersen noted, “Technology creates an experience that allows for flexibility. It’s different than reading panels. Getting guests engaged by letting them make decisions on an interactive display conveys content in a unique way.”
Expanding Beyond the Griffin Museum
The trend toward immersive, tech-infused exhibits is not confined to Chicago. For example, Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute has been modernizing decades-old exhibits by upgrading network infrastructure and incorporating cutting-edge digital components. Over the past two years, the Institute has enhanced its cabling and installed HPE Aruba network switches to support interactive and multimedia experiences in a nearly century-old building, marrying historic architecture with contemporary technology.
Conclusion
As museums strive to captivate increasingly tech-savvy audiences, leveraging interactive and multimedia technology is becoming standard practice. These innovations not only enhance visitor enjoyment but also deepen educational impact, allowing people to engage with exhibits in ways that static displays cannot match. The Griffin Museum’s James Bond exhibit exemplifies how blending entertainment and education through technology can transport visitors into new worlds of discovery and learning.
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Wylie Wong is a freelance journalist specializing in business, technology, and sports, and a regular contributor to the CDW family of technology magazines.
