Tech improves look into science behind ‘Mummies’

Orlando Science Center’s Jennine Miller says it can be tricky to blend new with the old in a way that’s not disruptive to learning.

But tech-heavy displays at the center’s “Mummies of the World” exhibit have allowed the facility to educate visitors on topics that have long interested amateur scientists and others.

For instance, touch-screens sit alongside centuries-old mummies in the exhibit and expose visitors to videos on forensics and other concepts used in preservation.

Another uses a “decomposition wheel,” which shows deterioration of several items over time.

“We like to bring technology in as a way to complement the exhibit, rather than making it invasive,” she said. “And it’s a good way to get visitors and children asking questions and learning what the exhibit is about.”

The showroom for “Mummies” includes a handful of interactive displays that help visitors learn more about the people behind the mummies, as well as the people who have been mummified.

And that old-with-the-new approach is shared in the final room of the exhibit, which begins with a short video explaining how things such as CT scans are able to contribute to the display.

It highlights how new information can now be discovered “without unraveling” the original specimen.

In the final room, a 3-D printed “mummy” sits alongside its original specimen, which is of a Peruvian child in the fetal position.

“Technology has made it so we can see things we normally would not have been able to see or discover before,” Miller said.

As for the interactives, “kids really love being hands-on, and they love touching everything,” she said.

The “Mummies of the World” exhibit’s run at Orlando Science Center ends Sunday.

msantana@tribpub.com or 407-420-5256; Twitter @marcosantana