NEWS November 20-21 will be festive days at Curiosum. All weekend the house will be filled with digital creation activities, robot programming, gaming in the gaming corner and a magical movie premiere. This is the first of four very special weekends at Curiosum to celebrate that Umeå University's science center opens the whole house up to visitors.
Digital Worlds "is the first of four special weekends at Curiosum to celebrate that the whole house has opened up to visitors.
ImageMattias PetterssonThe first special weekend "Digital Worlds" takes place November 20-21 following the theme, visual effects, VFX, in film and computer games. The event is aimed at everyone from four years and up.
“We want to highlight programming, mathematics and physics for children and young people, but even more to provide inspiration in the subject of visual effects and hope that the weekend will contribute to a desire to create for yourself. “Much of it is about visitors finding an outlet for their creativity and curiosity and doing things practically and diving into the technology behind visual effects,” says Stefan Johansson, deputy director of Curiosum at Umeå University and project manager for "Digital Worlds".
Digital worlds created in the computer
"Magical" is the name of the interactive exhibition that premieres during the first special weekend. Here, visitors can explore and test visual effects such as green screen, stop motion and 3D Zoetrope.
The exhibition is accompanied by the three-time award-winning spectacular dome film "Making Magic", based on the research behind digital visual effects. In the film, we get to accompany Peter Stormare on a breathtaking journey and discover how effects are created – from equations to explosions. The dome film is produced in Norrköping by Visualization Center C, one of Curiosum's partners in the Wisdome project.
“The film is 30 minutes long and introduces our theme for the weekend. I think the film is a perfect complement to the exhibition in that it gives the visitor an insight into how visual effects are created digitally and how digital content can be used to enhance an experience, while "Magical" harnesses hands-on activities to provide an understanding of the technology behind visual effects,” says Stefan Johansson.
Experience and explore the whole house
No one should have to stand and wait and have nothing to do, because the whole house is overflowing with opportunities to experiment and the joy of discovery. In addition to the exhibition, there are three different programming labs with robots aimed at three different age groups. One of the tasks is to program a robot so that it follows a path and inflates a balloon.
In Makerspace, visitors can have a go at creating music using a graphical program and simulate exciting physics with the Algodoo program.
Curiosum and the Umeå-based forum Gamingfamiljen have set up a gaming corner. The purpose is to inspire parents to be more involved in their children's digital playground.
“The idea is that the children play video games here for a while, both Nintendo and newer games, while Gamingfamiljen has a chat with the parents about adult attendance, playing time and other questions. It is important to get adults to get involved and play with their children!”
Special weekends show breadth
Curiosum's director Madelen Bodin thinks it feels wonderful to get to open the house up fully.
“We have so many exciting activities based in science and technology that we want to do with our visitors. With these special weekends, we shine a spotlight on different parts of Curiosum and show the range of our offerings. We hope to reach many who do not know what a science center is or what you can do at Curiosum. Through our special weekends, we want to arouse curiosity and an interest in science and technology. As a science center, we also want to show everyone that the university is an exciting place and that knowledge is cool!, says Madelen Bodin, director of Curiosum at Umeå University.
Wisdome is a national collaboration between world-class digital labs and learning environments, involving five of Sweden's leading science centers: Visualization Center C in Norrköping, Curiosum in Umeå, the Technical Museum in Stockholm, Universeum in Gothenburg and Science Center Malmö Museum
Curiosum is Umeå's new science center and makerspace, which invites you to a magical world for exploration on the Art Campus. The aim is to increase the interest and knowledge of children, young people and the general public in science and technology. Curiosum is run by Umeå University and is part of the strategic partnership with Umeå Municipality.
