After much pilot work, the IPES/TGIL Museum Learning Project (now TIDESS, see below) has now received funding from the National Science Foundation to continue our work! We will be funded under the Advancing Informal STEM Learning program, and will be taking our work on interactive tabletop exhibits for science learning to the next level by exploring interactive spherical displays. These displays are currently made by Pufferfish Ltd., and will allow curious museum visitors to engage directly with data visualizations of Earth’s ocean and atmosphere, and more. Our goals are to continue to investigate how the touch and gesture interactions are linked with learning science content through these technology-mediated experiences.

With new funding comes a new name, more focused on the new goals of the project: TIDESS: “Touch Interaction for Data Engagement with Science on Spheres”. As before, we are collaborating with UF IFAS research Dr. Kathryn A. Stofer on the project. Stay tuned for more updates, and check out our dedicated project website here!