Saturday, October 24, 2009

Exhibit Design Inspiration: The Dyson Air Multiplier


A classic science center exhibit involves a lightweight ball or balloon trapped in a fast-flowing stream of air to demonstrate (ostensibly) the Bernoulli effect. 

However most fans or blowers are loud, and involve blades that don't respond well to pencils, visitor's fingers, and other foreign objects.

Enter Sir James Dyson's latest invention, The Air Multiplier --- which basically is a "bladeless" fan that sends out a smooth continuous stream of air as opposed to traditional "bladed" fans that send out choppy bursts of air.  (Sir James explains it all in this video.)

While the Dyson Air Multiplier looks to be a little pricey (when it becomes available!) at $329.00 for the 12" model, and $299.00 for the 10" model, I still can't wait to get my hands on one to experiment with ways to create new airflow exhibits for visitors!

Are there some other types of new technology on the horizon that you think might work well for exhibits?  Let us know in the comments section below.

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