June 20, 2014 — The dilemma is always thus: How do you take a complicated, multi-layered subject, such as fisheries management, and render it down until it’s comprehensible to those outside the fishing industry?
If you’re Maritime Gloucester, you add a dash of interactive technology and a dollop of visual fun, and you’re off and running.
That’s the concept behind the new Think Tank exhibit at Maritime Gloucester.
With the help of a $25,000 technology grant from Applied Materials in the Blackburn Industrial Park, Maritime Gloucester has developed a state-of-the-art, multi-touch table that allows up to six players to play a game that is as much about learning the intricacies of fisheries management as it is about fun.
“We think this will be a great teaching tool and a way to engage the community and our visitors about the dynamic systems and multiple variables involved in fisheries management,” said Thomas Balf, executive director of Maritime Gloucester. “The game is really unique. I’m not aware of anything comparable in a museum setting.”
Maritime Gloucester expects the Think Tank exhibit will be a popular attraction for school groups, as well as tourists and community members.
The Think Tank table, which measures 48 inches on the diagonal, is housed at the center of the exhibit space on the second floor of the working waterfront museum on Harbor Loop. Players look down at what is effectively a large, blue touch-screen.