The Dark Matter project was a unique collaboration between physicists and Human-Computer Interaction experts, aimed at creating an immersive, multisensory metaphorical experience of an otherwise imperceptible physical phenomenon – dark matter. The project was designed to explore and evaluate the effectiveness of a multisensory approach to communicating complex scientific concepts to the public.
The process of designing the multisensory experience involved creating a narrative that would take participants on a metaphorically and scientifically accurate journey through our galaxy after being transformed into dark matter detectors by a mysterious pill. The journey was presented through timed visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory stimuli within a planetarium. The experience started on Earth, then took the travelers to the outskirts of our galaxy and back, to finish by falling into the supermassive black hole at its center. The journey was accompanied by a voiceover that guided the participants along their metaphorical journey through our galaxy, while coordinated auditory, tactile, and olfactory stimuli represented the dark matter wind and dark matter density along the journey.
Multisensory elements to our dark matter experience. (a) Fluorescent body outline
indicating where the participant needs to lie (b) Haptics box with fluorescent hand outline
(c) Aquarius dark matter simulation projection (d) Wireless noise-cancelling headphones (e)
Box containing popping candy pills (f) Haptics board for mid-air skin stimulation (g) Scent
release device.
The multisensory design used in the project included haptic and olfactory technology, wireless noise-cancelling headphones, a box containing popping candy pills, a haptics board for mid-air skin stimulation, and a scent release device. The multisensory elements were used to create darkness when other sensory stimulation kicked in, in order to re-direct the participants‘ attention.
Dr José Eliel Camargo-Molina (centre) engaging the public at the event. The planetarium
can be seen in the back.
The findings of the project showed that a multisensory experience generates a stronger and longer-lasting sense of engagement with the concept, and a metaphorical approach to expressing cosmological ideas leads to a higher perception of relevance and increased curiosity about the phenomenon. The survey results showed that „Curiosity on multi-sensory aspects“ was the second-highest reason for participating in the event, almost as important as „Desire to learn.“
The word cloud created from participants’ of the experience. The word cloud
displays the word frequency varying font size, with more frequently occurring words in
proportionally larger font.
Overall, the Dark Matter project demonstrated the potential of multisensory experiences to make abstract concepts in cosmology and astrophysics more accessible and inclusive. The project also highlighted the importance of collaboration between experts from different fields to create innovative and effective ways of communicating complex scientific concepts to the public.
Resources:
- Trotta R., Hajas D., Camargo-Molina J., Cobden R., Maggioni E., Obrist M., „Communicating cosmology with multisensory metaphorical experiences“ Journal of Science Communication, 2020
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKRsjGqz5Ls
