A Flexible Approach to Serious Topics

"Wonders of Medicine", the permanent multimedia exhibition housed in the Novartis Pavillon brings the world of science and medicine closer to the public. Conceived together with Atelier Brückner and in collaboration with scientists from Novartis, it is built around four themes: "Fragility of Life", "From Laboratory to Patient", "Steps through Time" and "Future of Healthcare".

At the Welcome Wall, visitors are greeted by responsive light play, already visible from the Pavillon foyer, through the panes of the circular courtyard. Its subtle animations not only delight, but also signal the entrance to the exhibition.

The intelligent audio guide "Sofia" shepherds visitors through the exhibition. It always knows where they are and is thus able to provide all necessary information about exhibits in their vicinity. In this way, complex content can be conveyed in the tightest of spaces, allowing visitors to move freely through the displays. They experience the space as an open soundscape, with the option to interactively engage in a direct manner with the exhibition.

The individual listening experience is made possible by high-precision location tracking, which records the movement of visitors in real time. The tracking is based on ultra-wideband technology (UWB) and is carried out via special headphones. Each of these headphones receives signals from UWB transmitters distributed throughout the exhibition space and can determine its own position with an accuracy of ten centimetres. An IMU sensor also determines the head orientation. This way, the system also knows in which direction you are looking.

iart was directly in charge for designing and engineering this cutting edge new media exhibit. It features notable innovations such as larger-than-life curved touch screens; holograms capable of recording visitors' movements in real time ; and a huge spherical projection in the screening room.

The exhibition lighting is devised for enhanced focus on the content being conveyed. The exhibition objects, vitrines, and steals are illuminated in such a manner that they seem to possess innate glow. Outlines of some installations are traced by laser-like strands of white light, evoking the atmospherics of a science lab. Lending more ambience is the diffuse lighting on the high, curved side walls of the exhibition space. Here, too, the light sources themselves are not visible, rather they serve to emphasise the height and width of the circular exhibition space.

Innovative media technology makes it possible to tackle the complexity of science research, enabling the exhibition to do justice to the educational aspects, and at the same time presenting them with great visual finesse. As an exhibition, "Wonders of Medicine" embodies the vibrant link between research and innovation that is central to Novartis.