Fantastically good at inspiring and educating visitors as trusted collectors and conservators of history, museums amplify cultural access by presenting stories and ideas that provoke rich dialogue about the past, present, and future.  In fact, according to the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), museums are considered to be the most trustworthy source of information around,...

The Devastating Effect of the Tsunami in Sendai, Japan, on March 11th, 2011 The horrifying images on television of the earthquake and tsunami that afflicted the Japanese coastline last Friday remind us of the fragility of the civilization that we have developed on our planet, and show the enormous power of nature. Professor Shinichi Takemura...

Tangible Earth, the interactive globe now on view here at Cooper-Hewitt, engages the sense of touch to create a feeling of connection between people and their planet. Lots of designers today are exploring ways to enhance digital devices with touch. For example, MIT Media Lab’s OnObject system can turn any object into a tactile interactive...

Why? Water, the medium of life, has myriad manifestations. Furumai, meaning behavior or dance in Japanese, was an installation created for the Water exhibition at 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo in 2007. The project consisted of paper plates treated selectively with an invisible water-repellent coating. As visitors interacted with the plates, beads of water danced...