The Science of Spying is a touring exhibition produced by
The Science of..., a joint venture between the
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019.
Like other publicly funded ...
and Fleming Media. The Science of Spying opened at the Science Museum on 10 February 2007 and a duplicate exhibition opened in
the Children's Museum of Indianapolis
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana in the United Northwest Area neighborhood of the city. The museum is accredited by the American Al ...
on 16 March 2007. The exhibition is scheduled to tour venues around the world for 5 years.
Exhibition content
The Science of Spying, designed by Jump Studios, looks at
spying
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
today and in the future. It is interactive and aimed at a family audience. The interactivity includes various individual exhibits and a 'Spy ID card' which visitors are issued with when they enter the exhibition. A storyline involving the organisations 'Spymaker' and 'Osteck' runs throughout the exhibition. Themes include the basic skills of spies, new spy gadgets and the use of new technologies by spies. The exhibition also hints at the effects of new security and surveillance technologies on the rest of society.
Exhibition sections
Visitors begin in the Spymaker Training Base where they find out about basic spy skills in a number of interactive exhibits. These include spotting a liar, cracking a code and breaking into a safe.
The second section of the exhibition is the Spymaker Technology Centre where visitors find out how technology can enhance a spies basic skills and also provide new challenges. Visitors take a biometric face scan, search through digital databases for clues and visit the gadget van.
Next visitors go on a 'mission' into Osteck's headquarters. They must tackle interactive exhibits which are not necessarily quite what they seem. Their goal is to find a secret password to help thwart the Osteck threat. Visitors tap phone lines, break into computer systems and track things on surveillance cameras.
In the final section, visitors explore Osteck's Future lab with various innocent and not so innocent spying and surveillance products are on display. After foiling Osteck's plans, visitors must escape by fooling an artificial intelligence TV monitoring system.
Development and opening
The development team consulted with many experts during development, including former MI6 officer, Harry Ferguson, as well as scientists and engineers. The exhibition was opened by Stella Remington, a former head of MI5.
Case study of The Science of Spying by Stephen Foulger
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See also
* The Science of Aliens
*The Science of Survival
The Science of Survival — Your Planet Needs You is the third exhibition project from The Science of..., a joint operation between the London Science Museum and Fleming Media. The exhibition launched at The Science Museum in April 2008 and two ve ...
References
External links
The Science Museum, LondonThe Science of...Jump StudiosThe Exhibitions Agency Ltd.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Science Of Spying, The
Science exhibitions
Traveling exhibits
Espionage in culture