Touch the Universe

Adler Planetarium TOUCH THE UNIVERSE

1. OVERVIEW DESCRIPTION Touch the Universe utilized 3D printed astrophysical objects in combination with visualizations to provide Adler Planetarium guests with a new way of exploring space concepts. It also benefits our guests with visual impairment and those that are primarily tactile learners, providing a pathway for deeper understanding of astrophysical concepts that are often only presented visually within the planetarium experience. This programming is delivered within Adler Planetarium’s Space Visualization Lab (SVL), a unique space where local astronomers and astrophysicists present their latest discoveries with breathtaking images, innovative data visualizations, and 3D video displays. Guests will be invited to touch a vast array of 3D printed objects. While these objects are being investigated by the audience, SVL presenters will deliver a narrative about each item, augmented by associated telescope images, simulation visualizations, and 3D movies.

2. UNIVERSE OF LEARNING RESOURCES i. To implement Touch the Universe, we used two specific Universe of Learning resources. In particular, we incorporated some images from AstroPix and 3D printer compatible models from the ‘3D Printing the X-Ray Universe’ tactile resource. These Universe of Learning resources inspired us to assemble a set of 3D printed objects and corresponding visualizations to tell other universe stories. ii. Whenever possible, we included visualizations and imagery from NASA features associated with the Hubble Space Telescope, OSIRIS-REx, the Parker Solar Probe, NuSTAR, New Horizons, and Chandra. We also incorporated 3D printed objects found on NASA’s ‘3D Resources’ website of Eta Carinae’s stellar winds and the Homunculus Nebula.

3. PROGRAM DETAILS A. Goals i. To encourage curiosity and exploration through multiple senses. ii. Explore new avenues to present astrophysical data via 3D printed objects. iii. Provide more opportunity for engagement among our guests that may be tactile learners or have visual impairment. B. Target Audience

i. Our target audience includes visitors to Adler Planetarium of all demographics. In particular, we piloted this program within our unique Space Visualization Lab. As such, we interact with visitors who naturally visit this space. C. Suggested Timeline We suggest a total of ten weeks (2.5 months) of preparation before delivering a version of ‘Touch the Universe’. This timeframe may be shortened if there is already access to a 3D printer and high-resolution displays, sufficient practice with successfully creating 3D prints, and a ready pool of content presenters. Ten weeks out: • Identify your audience and a space to hold your program. Do you already have a dedicated space, will you need to create one, or will you need to go out into the community? Will program participants naturally come to you, will you need to advertise, or will you take your program to an audience? Ten-Eight weeks out: • Source and/or purchase high-resolution visual displays/projectors, computers to run the display, a 3D printer, and additional spools of 3D printer material if needed. One display is sufficient to deliver the programming. • Recruit content presenters and facilitators if needed. An expertise or background in astronomy is helpful, but not required. Seven weeks out: • Start experimenting with creating the 3D prints. Some may require alterations to your printer settings. A number of the prints will also require some clean-up to remove supports necessary in the printing process. See the GitHub repository (https://github.com/mariaweber/Adler_TouchTheUniverse) for the 3D printer files, printing tips, and some before and after photos. Six weeks out: • Start advertising to your chosen audience if you haven’t already started. Four weeks out: • Begin downloading the visualizations and imagery from the GitHub repository (https://github.com/mariaweber/Adler_TouchTheUniverse). Ensure everything works properly on your display devices. If using the WorldWide Telescope to augment your program, familiarize yourself with its features. • Once content presenters are identified, hold a workshop to train them in the art of science communication. Provide presenters with the information they

will be responsible for. Each of the 3D prints and their associated visualizations are briefly discussed in the ‘README’ files in the GitHub repository. Additional links are also provided so presenters can learn more of the backstory behind each print and visualization. One week out: • One last advertisement push, especially if this is a stand-alone or part of a one-off event. • Put on the finishing touches and get ready to have fun!

4. PROGRAM MODEL At the Adler Planetarium, we deliver aspects of Touch the Universe every day within our dedicated Space Visualization Lab. As our astrophysicist presenters engage in an informal conversation with museum visitors, 3D printed objects are passed around the room while corresponding visualizations are shown on our interactive tile wall, one 2D TV display, and two 3D displays. Often guests migrate toward the front of the room, pick up an intriguing 3D printed object, and strike up a conversation with our astronomer volunteers or facilitators. The 3D printed objects are literal touchstones which get audience members physically involved and curious about a space story in ways beyond what imagery alone can convey. There are many ways in which a similar Touch the Universe program could be delivered. These could take place within dedicated exhibit spaces as we do at the Adler Planetarium, either routinely or as stand-alone events. They could be cart pop-up activities, or more formal lecture-style presentations. One could also choose this program to be mobile, taking it out into schools and community spaces. Here we provide more details about our specific program, some ideas to make Touch the Universe translatable to other institutions, and provide basic background content, visualizations, and 3D printer files that can be molded to fit your needs. • Staffing • Our Touch the Universe program is delivered within Adler Planetarium’s Space Visualization Lab (SVL). During a typical 1-2 hour SVL session where portions of Touch the Universe are presented, there is usually one facilitator and one presenter present. The facilitator invites visitors into the space, counts the number of attendees, and assists the presenter if necessary. The presenter is either an Adler Planetarium staff scientist or scientist from a nearby institution with specific astrophysics content knowledge and science communication training. During special evening ticketed events where the SVL is open for 3-4 hours, we still usually implement one facilitator and one speaker at a time. However, there are 2-4 speakers that rotate throughout the event. Sometimes the facilitator is also rotated.

• Recruitment • The Touch the Universe audience is comprised of Adler Planetarium visitors. They may experience aspects of Touch the Universe by visiting the SVL during its open hours. We recruit external SVL presenters through the University of Chicago and Northwestern University astronomy and astrophysics programs. • Activity outline Here we describe one example of how a two-hour program incorporating aspects of Touch the Universe might be delivered. This event could be delivered with only one presenter and one facilitator. Every Saturday and Sunday, the Adler Planetarium’s Space Visualization Lab (SVL) is open to visitors for two consecutive hours. Now portions of Touch the Universe are incorporated into nearly every SVL open session. • 15 minutes before the program begins, the facilitator prepares the room and turns on the equipment. The presenter also arrives and familiarizes themselves with the location of the visualizations and imagery they wish to show. If a 3D printer is able to be set up in the space, we recommend starting a print. Guests are not only interested in touching a part of the universe, they are also intrigued by the technology and the 3D printing process itself. • Once the program commences, the facilitator stands near the exhibit entrance, invites guests inside, and counts the attendees. • The flow of the program might be entirely presenter dominated, driven by questions from the audience, or some combination of both. Generally, the presenter will begin by introducing themselves and launching right into a topic with an associated 3D printed object. Often the first topic will revolve around the presenter’s primary research or favorite astronomy realm. For example, one of our frequent presenters is a solar physicist. She will begin by talking about the Sun’s magnetic activity, showing visualization of the Sun’s corona, then a 3D printed representations of the Sun’s magnetic field and the Parker Solar Probe telescope. Next she’ll talk about supernova remnants, showing both visualizations and 3D printed versions of Cassiopeia A and supernova 1987A. After that comes a discussion on black hole mergers and their ensuing gravitational waves, followed by a survey of asteroids you can literally hold in the palm of your hand. During this time, the associated 3D printed objects will be passed around the crowd, visualizations will be shown, and the presenter will frequently stop to ask the audience if they have any questions or want to know more. Sometimes the discussion veers off into a conversation on habitability and planets around other stars, or even toward particle astrophysics and galaxy mergers. Owing to the open lab nature of Adler’s SVL, visitors come and go as they please. Most stay for around 5 minutes. Once the presenter has exhausted her favorite topics, she’ll circle back and start the presentation again.

The above such example is only one among the approximately 70 SVL presenters. Our visualization library is quite extensive, and we will continue to add more 3D prints to illustrate an increasing breadth of topics. We do encourage institutions to consider printing out a few 3D objects for use in pop- up cart activities staffed by facilitators. A simple printout of an image could accompany the 3D print.

• At the end of the two-hour session, the facilitator and presenter inform everyone that it is time to go. Once the visitors have exited the space, the facilitator then turns off all of the equipment and tidies up the space.

• Facilitation guide

• The facilitator oversees the exhibit space and makes the Touch the Universe program possible. Responsibilities include setting up the room and turning on equipment. When the program is ready to begin, the facilitator opens the space, greets visitors, and counts the number of visitors that enter the room. He/She assists the presenter with any needs they may have. The facilitator will also have a knowledge of where visualizations and images may be found on the display systems if the presenter needs assistance. As a future next step for our program, we hope to move toward having facilitators, deliver some portion of Touch the Universe. This would involve providing a short script or information card associated with each 3D printed object for those without specific content knowledge. • Presenter guide • Presenters are identified as content experts, and may be astronomers themselves. Scientists frequently present their findings to each other. However, they may not be well-practiced in presenting to a general audience, especially in a more informal setting where guests may ask questions at various times throughout the presentation. As part of our training for Space Visualization Lab presenters at Adler Planetarium, we provide a science communication workshop. In addition to providing science communication best practices, this workshop also draws heavily from improv exercises to encourage presenters to think creatively and spontaneously. These include games called (1) zip, zap, zop, (2) word ball, (3) mirror exercise, and (4) dance your research. The instructions for these are provided in a separate document. We also provide some communication tips for scientists from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. • Program organizers may decide whether they wish their Touch the Universe event to be more structured or informal. During a more structured program, presenters will want to consider creating a script that they stick to throughout

the event. In this case, presenters will be able to focus more on topics they are the most comfortable with and weave a more cohesive narrative. They could have visualizations already cued, or perhaps create a PowerPoint style presentation augmented with the 3D printed objects. One of our main goals in the Space Visualization Lab at the Adler Planetarium is to have an ‘astronomy conversation’ with our guests. As such, we invite visitors into our space to ask us questions about the universe. Our 3D printed objects and visualizations are pieces that spark curiosity and enquiry, but also serve as tools for explanation. Often our Touch the Universe programming is guest driven, as they pick up a piece and ask ‘What’s this?’. It is then up to the presenter to guide the storytelling and explanation on the fly, using the provided visualizations and imagery. This may place more of a burden on presenters to know a ‘a little bit about a lot’. But, this can be avoided by only bringing out a few of the 3D printed objects, determined by the expertise of the particular presenter. If the program is set up as an open lab like we do at the Adler Planetarium, guests are then free to come and go as they please. • Presenters can learn background information about each 3D printed object and the associated visualizations from the ‘README’ files and links provided within them in the GitHub repository: https://github.com/mariaweber/Adler_TouchTheUniverse • Exhibit design • Touch the Universe programming is delivered within Adler Planetarium’s dedicated Space Visualization Lab (SVL). This is a working laboratory that brings immersive and interactive technologies to the museum floor. This laboratory is about the size of a classroom, and circular in shape with one side enclosed in glass windows so visitors can see inside the lab. The enclosed design of the SVL allows the room to be locked when facilitators are not present. • At the front of the SVL space are four dedicated displays for presenter use. However, Touch the Universe programming could be delivered with just one display.

o The first display is a 15-panel tile wall. It is always connected to the WorldWide Telescope so that we can show visitors actual telescope images of astronomical objects on the fly. The display can also be navigated via a Microsoft Kinect. This is especially fun for ‘swimming’ through the universe. Find more information here: https://github.com/WorldWideTelescope

o The second and third displays are 3D capable. We pass out 3D glasses to our SVL visitors as they enter the space. One display is an overhead projector connected to a computer that also runs Uniview (https://www.sciss.se/uniview/) and OpenSpace

(https://www.openspaceproject.com/). The other is a high definition tabletop display.

o The fourth display is a wall-mounted 2D screen. Note that in collating the visualizations for the GitHub repository associated with Touch the Universe, we have only included images or shorter 2D visualizations to reduce file storage/hosting requirements.

• In the front of the space also sits a table upon which the 3D printer and finished 3D prints are arranged. Part of the excitement for guests is getting to see a 3D printer in action. You could display and label each print, or you could leave them unlabeled. We find that when something is not labeled, guests are more likely to strike up a discussion with a facilitator or presenter and ask ‘What’s That?’. It is a great way to spark conversation. • Within our exhibit space, we also have a couch, coffee table, benches, and chairs. There is approximately enough seating to accommodate 25 people. • Graphics, Visualizations, Imagery, and 3D Printer Files • Our Touch the Universe program relies heavily on visualizations and 3D printer files. These are all documented and provided directly in our GitHub repository: https://github.com/mariaweber/Adler_TouchTheUniverse. Most of these materials are also available online in other locations. However, we have chosen to download them from their associated websites or repositories and provide them within our GitHub repository, along with the appropriate credits. This was done so that all files can be accessed from one place. Furthermore, we recognize that webpages and links often change, and on occasion files may be removed or relocated. Our GitHub repository will be maintained for the foreseeable future, and will continue to expand. We have only provided 2D versions of visualizations on the GitHub. • Materials

• Documentation, visualizations, and 3D printer files found in the GitHub repository: https://github.com/mariaweber/Adler_TouchTheUniverse. • At least one high resolution television display or overhead projector and a dedicated computer with the downloaded visualization files. • One 3D printer and spare spools of 3D printer material. It is also helpful to have a set of pliers, wire snips, and sandpaper to clean up the prints. • A table, cart, or shelving for display and storage of the 3D prints.