EXTRA, the marketplace for scientific touring exhibitions.
Illusions uses a very accessible and enjoyable subject to let the visitors subconsciously absorb science while playing. The sense of wonder always is a good starting point. In illusions the visitors experience what happens when their brain hinders itself, and common sense is not the solution. In forty-odd playful hands-on exhibits they discover what are the rules of thumb their brain uses to structure its observations, and how one can turn those rules against themselves.
Obviously, after the experience visitors are explained how they were fooled. In the ‘mirror universe’ the visitors stand in a room with mirrors on all sides, even above and below. A rather psychedelic experience, which is very popular with visitors. Mirrors also are used in a walk-in kaleidoscope. And in an exhibit where their own head is served on a plate – a perfect photo opportunity. In a circus tent, a clown does a vanishing act. Very spectacular, and popular, is the guillotine, for the ‘victim’ as well as the onlookers. Visitors discover the humble beginnings of the film and why a coach wheel in films seems to turn backwards. They see images floating in mid-air, get dizzy in a revolving cupola, hear an endlessly ascending tone, even see two flashes because they hear two beeps! And how can the same surface feel different to your two hands?