Jun 11 2011 11:11 pm
Posted by Kevin Persaud under ADMIN ONLY - featured,June 13 Assignment
Virtual what?
Today I took my first trip to a virtual museum, “The Lost Museum.” I entered not knowing what to expect. For the most part I found that the website was able to make me feel like I was actually in the original Barnum Museum.
From the museum I was able to learn that people of the 19th century NYC had a taste in entertainment that was much different from ours. Most people today would tell you that they are interested in technology and the latest innovations. While in the 19th century people were more interested in the unexplained and peculiar. People flocked to see anomalies like a glass steam engine or Siamese twins.
I personally found the glass steam engine to be interesting because of the level of detail it had and the effort and work that went into making it. Since it was class it allowed spectators to see all of the intricate parts and engineering it was made of.
Like many of the other visitors I was disappointed to find that most of the entertainment was on the 2nd floor. At first it was a little bit challenging to figure out what was a a clickable exhibit and what wasn’t, but after a while it began to feel like a scavenger hunt. The museum taught me a lot about life in the 19th century. However I felt that there could have been more organization of the exhibits and easier interaction. That said it was a pretty interesting historical tool that I feel should be used more often.