On a hot, summer afternoon, New York City’s Madison Avenue is a bustling cross-section of humanity. Throngs of people of all different backgrounds with different places to be shuffle along the sidewalks and dart in between taxicabs as skyscrapers border city blocks. The reality of the city is characterized by businesspeople, tourists, and city dwellers who largely keep to themselves as they go on their way throughout the day.
Along comes the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, housed in the Sony Music Entertainment office building where I have interned for the past two weeks. In this temporary escape from the rush of city life, visitors enter the intriguing world of technology and interact with each other and cutting edge, electronic devices. It is impossible to pass by the Sony building without catching the ray of light thrown by a gleaming camera screen or the mind-blowing smallness of a personal video camera. Sometimes, crowds collect around a single window to marvel at the latest technological advancements developed by Sony, but an even bigger crowd lines up outside the Technology Lab waiting to interact with the devices themselves.
Why is the lab so popular? It is a free technology museum consisting of four stories worth of exhibit areas and interactive exhibit stations. By inviting visitors to participate in each exhibit, the Technology Lab aims to “educate and cultivate the next generation of leaders in media, science, technology, and the arts.” This is more than just a cool space to ogle at cool technology. It’s all about making learning fun and igniting everyone’s imaginations.
The Technology Lab is home to incredibly engaging exhibits. Each guest logs into the museum by providing his or her name, photo, favorite color and music genre, and a voice recording. This ensures that the guest’s museum experience can be tailored to his or her interests. Even though all of the exhibits are irresistible and so much fun to look at, I had a few personal favorites. I really enjoyed the Sensi-Tile wall, which flashed colored lights when I touched it. It reminded me of the color wall that used to be in the Gilman Hall tunnel that produced a light show whenever someone walked by. I also liked the Internet Map, which showed various pathways that e-mails, photos, etc. take when transferred from one place on the Internet to another. After going past the evolutionary timeline of technology, I came to the Virtual Surgery exhibit. This was really cool and something that Hopkins would be very proud of me for exploring! The exhibit harnessed haptic technology to simulate open-heart surgery. I got to virtually “feel” what it was like to perform surgery on a computerized patient! I have observed my uncle perform open heart surgery in an operating room before, but it was a completely different experience to feel what he felt and appreciate the technology that makes it possible for doctors to care for patients.
I highly recommend the Sony Wonder Technology Lab for anyone in the New York City area this summer. My visit was one I will not forget soon. Visit www.sonywondertechlab.com for more information.