Here’s looking at you, kid

SPIN ME RIGHT AROUND, BABY The human-sized hamster wheel gives pet-owners a taste of their own medicine.

Want to watch the blood pulsing through your veins? Run on a human-sized hamster wheel? Get a peek at what you’ll look like in 20 years? (Maybe don’t answer that.)

Visitors to the Museum of Science and Industry’s “YOU! The Experience” can do all of that and lots more. The new, permanent exhibit explores aspects of the human mind, body and spirit with the help of modern technology. By examining how environments we live in, choices we make and medical science influence our well-being, MSI hopes to arm museumgoers with the ability to make sound health decisions when they leave.

“This exhibit is part of our vision for the 21st century,” says Patricia Ward, the museum’s director of science and technology. “Health is a top concern for the museum, and so is helping kids reach their full potential in science, technology and engineering.”

The 15,000-square-foot exhibit—in the new Abbott Hall area on the north end of the museum—enables visitors of all ages to connect with their own health in fun, unique ways, Ward says. “We created it with kids and families in mind. Many of the experiences are social and encourage people to gather around. Even though the exhibit is about you as an individual, we don’t want anyone to experience it in a vacuum.”

Highlights of the more than 50 interactive stations include:
Vein Viewer An infrared camera lets you watch your own blood circulating through your body.
Hamster Wheel A human-sized running wheel provides real-time feedback on how your body reacts to aerobic exercise.
Face Your Future Watch how your face ages over time based on your health habits and lifestyle choices.
Get in the Action A virtual coach teaches you basketball, hip-hop or tai chi moves, and your silhouette is projected on a screen so you—and everyone else—can watch you strut your stuff.
Interactive Prosthetic Arm Control an arm and hand with your own, and see how electrodes detect the nerve signals that control muscle movements.

The exhibit also features revamped versions of a couple of old MSI favorites, such as a souped-up version of the museum’s walk-through heart. Now, the 13-foot-tall structure has a “physical theater” element that enables it to beat in time with a person’s heartbeat by connecting to his or her pulse via digital imagery. The prenatal exhibit is also back, with multimedia presentations on the development of a fetus and the adaptation of a mother’s body. There are also human specimens throughout the exhibit that highlight the body’s interconnected parts and systems.

The exhibit also includes a Human Patient Simulator (nicknamed STAN, for “Standard Man”)—a first for a museum. The full-size mannequin is computer controlled and normally used for medical-school training. Here, museumgoers can use the technology to diagnose and treat various ailments such as asthma and obesity-induced diabetes. “It looks like a nondescript mannequin until you see what it can do,” Ward says. “It can be adapted to all kinds of medical scenarios.”

While the exhibit was designed to educate visitors about healthy choices, the museum was careful not to be preachy, Ward says. “There’s no desire to make anyone feel bad,” she says. “We want to highlight ways for you to decide what’s good for you and show that some choices are better than others.”

Interaction with the exhibit doesn’t end when visitors leave, Ward adds. “SciPass” features let you scan your admission ticket at some stations to retrieve personalized information later from the MSI website—including recordings of stories made in a “Talk to Me” booth . “It’s all about putting something of yourself into the exhibit and taking something away from that experience in the end,” Ward says.

“YOU! The Experience” opens Thursday 8. To celebrate, museum general admission is free weekdays through October 30. Go to msichicago.org for info.

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