For Father's Day, my five-year old GeekSon and I went to Boston's Museum of Science. One of the highlights was the Crittercam exhibit. Researchers attach cameras to animals to see the animals' world from their perspective. Don't worry, they are safe and don't hurt the animals. National Geographic designed the Crittercam as a scientific video and data gathering tool combined with the collection of environmental data such as depth, temperature, and acceleration.
The exhibit has great footage captured by the Crittercam, interactive displays and models. Over the years that they have been using the Crittercam, it has been redesigned for different animals.
For a great white shark, the Crittercam is clamped on the shark's dorsal fin. The shark display had some great footage of scientists capturing a shark and quickly mounting the camera. My son found this footage as interesting as the Crittercam footage itself.
The turtle section had a life-sized leatherback turtle model with the Crittercam stuck on its shell. Young kids loved climbing on top of the turtle. None of them wanted to get back off.
The penguin exhibit allows you to be filmed by a Crittercam. You get to crawl under a table set up like an ice sheet and pop up in an airhole to be face to face with a Crittercam-equipped penguin model. The footage is then transmitted after a time delay to a video monitor, giving you enough time to crawl back and see yourself on the Crittercam.
There was lots of other footage and exhibits, but you should go to the Museum of Science and see for yourself. The exhibit runs all summer through August 30.
If you live in other parts of the country, you can look on the Crittercam exhibit schedule to see if it is coming to a place closer to you. You can also get a sneak peek online at the Crittercam Exhibit or the National Geographic Crittercam photos on Flickr.
Thanks to the Museum of Science for inviting GeekDad to their Media Day. We did and saw lots of great things during the trip including a show by the Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show and a viewing of Mystic India on the Imax. But those will have to wait for other posts.
For those of you who use Twitter, you can follow @MuseumofScience.
