Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History On September 22, 2013, I virtually visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History located in Washington, D.C., USA. It is one of the widest known museums in the United States and has many themes related to Natural History. The virtual tour is relatively easy to maneuver and provides many operational features; with exception of non-viewable literature due to incompatible zoom features.
The museum covers a variety of exhibits, detailed literary explanations, and real-life virtual viewing of the multi-floor museum. The museum has a lot of historical information on several subjects laid out through three floors. Initially, floor one gives a consolidated view into past exhibits previously displayed such as: Western Cultures, Soil, Orchids (2008 & 2011), Rastafari, Coral Reef Crochet, and Cyprus. I personally enjoyed the displays related to Western Cultures and how it developed. It gave a lot of insight and figurative pictures about the western culture. Also, the Coral Reef Crochet was beautiful. I never knew that something so hidden could be so intriguing; simply a hidden treasure!
The Orchids display was kind of irregular to the museum setting per my personal opinion. Proceeding, floor two then wings the exhibitor into the world of the Rotunda, Mammal Hall, Human Origins, Ocean Hall, African Cultures, Ice Age, Ancient Seas, Fossil Labs, Dinosaurs, Early Life, Fossil Plants, and the fossil café. This was my favorite floor of all. I was flabbergasted by the Early Life & Human Origins displays. It’s amazing how humans have developed and evolved over billions of years. I spent the majority of my viewing time in those areas and became addicted to studying the endless information.
The Ancient Seas exhibit was awesome as well; the ancient whale bone display was breath-taking! It’s ultimately crazy to see the Ice Age artifacts, pictures, and descriptions. I find it hard to imagine the world during the Ice Age timeframe. Lastly, the third floor portrays Butterflies & Plants, Bones, Insect Zoo, Egyptian Mummies, Geology, Gems, & Minerals, Korea Gallery, and the grand IMAX Theatre for feature viewings. This floor was a little boring for me personally and I only viewed in detail the Bones & Egyptian Mummies exhibits with extent. The insect zoo was kind of creepy for me, and overwhelmingly horrid – I hate insects obviously.
The minerals and gems displayed were beautiful and awe – inspiring. There are so many different minerals and gems in so many shapes, sizes, and colors. Overall, I find that I am attracted to all information and artifacts of human life. I was enveloped in the bones display on this floor and learning about concepts of how these bones were found and excavated. Traditionally, if I would have been at the museum in person – the IMAX Theatre would have been my last endeavor of excitement. I can only imagine what it holds to discover!
Overall the virtual tour was invigorating, informative, easily operational, and very detailed with imagery. The zoom feature for reading the literary descriptions were sub-par, but within measurable limits considering the overall experience. The real-life viewing was amazing and is not found in other virtual tour worlds – as far as I have seen. I also like how the tour details the whole museum on a virtual map, and you can view different exhibits based on your personal interests.
This type of viewing helps to keep the visitor attentive and want to continue the tour. I would highly recommend this site to classmates and will use it in future educational research. I plan to make a trip this coming spring to visit the museum in person. This tour really puts in to perspective the things that are waiting to be discovered and full of learning experiences. I think people think of a museum and underestimate its worth and level of interesting principals.
Works Cited
- Institution, S. (2012, 03 19). Smithsonian Natural Museum of Natural History: Panoramic Virtual Tour. Retrieved from http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/
