Avenger117
Well-Known Member
You should do a web search on IBM research and development labs sometime. You might be a little surprised.
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PHOTOS - IBM THINK interactive exhibit opens at Epcot's Innoventions
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
You should do a web search on IBM research and development labs sometime. You might be a little surprised.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
I didn't get that from your post, and it's always interesting to hear the unique backstories of the people who post here. And yours was most interesting.
This isn't aimed at you specifically, but I find it to be a shame that so many people today look at a cleanly designed, intelligently presented, and sophisticated space like this IBM exhibit and automatically assume it's snobby or exclusive. The IBM exhibits of the last 50 years weren't meant to scare people away, they were meant to educate and inform and treat people (customers) with a great deal of respect. IBM chose brilliant and iconic designers like the Eames' group to create their public exhibits because good design naturally respects and serves the people who inhabit that design.
Step into the cleanly and elegantly designed IBM THINK exhibit and you are being respected by your IBM hosts. The dumbing down of the culture overall in the last 20 years has created too many people who think they don't deserve good design, and that the tacky and wacky and cheaply conceived exhibits like the Underwriters Laboratories display is all that they deserve. IBM obviously thinks otherwise.
IBM is to be congratulated for sticking with these traditional concepts on public display spaces, instead of going for the latest trend in lowest common denominator with whack-a-mole games and garish colors and 5th grade graphics aimed at grown adults. And children can pick up on good design too, and then it grounds them with a good point of reference as they become adults.
TDO is also to be congratulated for allowing IBM to let Innoventions incline by several degrees, and return a bit of civility and elegance to the old Communicore display space. Holy heck, I just complimented Team Disney Orlando!
Cosmic Commando
Well-Known Member
Making the world a better place? OMG how boring amirite? lolz!
My jaw just about hit the floor reading all of the negative comments about this! What is there to hate? Looks good, clean, modern, uses technology, informative, future-focused... but it's not an E-ticket? It's an Innoventions exhibit. Comparing it to the major Future World pavilions is like comparing a tugboat to an aircraft carrier. Even if you don't like it, it's good for Epcot's soul to have something like this.
Shame on me, but I actually like the other kind of Innoventions exhibits, too. Whoever has been fighting for Innoventions the last few years, bravo. Stormstruck, Sum of all Thrills, Great Piggy Bank Adventure, Where's the Fire, VISION House... I like 'em all.
My jaw just about hit the floor reading all of the negative comments about this! What is there to hate? Looks good, clean, modern, uses technology, informative, future-focused... but it's not an E-ticket? It's an Innoventions exhibit. Comparing it to the major Future World pavilions is like comparing a tugboat to an aircraft carrier. Even if you don't like it, it's good for Epcot's soul to have something like this.
Shame on me, but I actually like the other kind of Innoventions exhibits, too. Whoever has been fighting for Innoventions the last few years, bravo. Stormstruck, Sum of all Thrills, Great Piggy Bank Adventure, Where's the Fire, VISION House... I like 'em all.
dreamscometrue
Well-Known Member
Dreamers Empire
New Member
Believe it or not, I'm not generally a negative person. But everyone has something they feel very passionate about. I've yet to see this so maybe I'll at least discover that yes, this is a good fit for Innoventions, better than what they've had, company sponsored sales pitches that were overly simplistic. I've recoiled at over negativity plenty of times.
Here's what I'm saying. There has been a trend at Epcot to replace the experiential with the existential. While you might see this as a better representation of edutainment than a ride like Soarin, I see this trend as robbing us of the experience / entertainment. As I've said, we see it now in Spaceship Earth, Mission Space and now Test Track, though I haven't been on it since the redesign. The point is, its as if we're afraid to show folks what the future might look like, and now we want to say, well it will be whatever you want it to be. Horizons showed you, you were in a ride that brought you by the creators vision and it was an experience that left you with wonder. What I'm afraid of is that I'm going to see this exhibit and not come away with any view of the future or feel that sense of wonder. It will be similar to going to a movie that relies on special effects and robs the viewer from the story.
So while you might be put off by my negativity, I think you're only measuring that based on this one new attraction and I suspect its pretty cool in some respect. But if you see it from my point of view and others, Epcot, in particular, Future World, is the one place in the world I hope to stay committed to the kind of place it was in 1986 when I first went. As EpcotBob said, its easy to replace blood-sweat-tear built attractions with TV screens, ie: Horizons with Mission Space. The queue for Mission Space is better than the attraction, which in the end you look through a small screen to a video.
You may not agree, but everyone has something they feel passionate about, and mine is protecting Epcot from giving up the experience of the 5 senses and replacing it with the experience of the mind.
Here's what I'm saying. There has been a trend at Epcot to replace the experiential with the existential. While you might see this as a better representation of edutainment than a ride like Soarin, I see this trend as robbing us of the experience / entertainment. As I've said, we see it now in Spaceship Earth, Mission Space and now Test Track, though I haven't been on it since the redesign. The point is, its as if we're afraid to show folks what the future might look like, and now we want to say, well it will be whatever you want it to be. Horizons showed you, you were in a ride that brought you by the creators vision and it was an experience that left you with wonder. What I'm afraid of is that I'm going to see this exhibit and not come away with any view of the future or feel that sense of wonder. It will be similar to going to a movie that relies on special effects and robs the viewer from the story.
So while you might be put off by my negativity, I think you're only measuring that based on this one new attraction and I suspect its pretty cool in some respect. But if you see it from my point of view and others, Epcot, in particular, Future World, is the one place in the world I hope to stay committed to the kind of place it was in 1986 when I first went. As EpcotBob said, its easy to replace blood-sweat-tear built attractions with TV screens, ie: Horizons with Mission Space. The queue for Mission Space is better than the attraction, which in the end you look through a small screen to a video.
You may not agree, but everyone has something they feel passionate about, and mine is protecting Epcot from giving up the experience of the 5 senses and replacing it with the experience of the mind.
HM GhostHostess
Well-Known Member
Stop it! You aren't supposed to learn anything at an Epcot exhibit without a Whack-A-Mole game and a screeching host in a purple polo shirt forcing people to jump around a padded room before they can get a free sticker.
You read words formed into entire paragraphs in this IBM exhibit? And pondered the concepts laid out in the film? And felt engaged by the subject matter thoughtfully presented in a stylish environment? I hope you went to Guest Relations and complained.
Oh, I complained alright.
When I come to Walt Disney World, I expect to be treated like a five year old with the attention span of a gnat.
michmousefan
Well-Known Member
This is a single exhibit within a larger attraction (Innoventions as a whole). All great Disney attractions appeal to all "four quadrants," to use an entertainment-based term. While Sum of All Thrills might skew younger and thrill-seeker, perhaps this exhibit will skew older and more thoughtful. Not every attraction has to engage all five senses (and if you do want that, StormStruck and Sum cover a lot of those bases within Innoventions).
You're under-estimating the power of the human mind if you suggest that "thoughts" can't fire the imagination as much as turning upside down, smelling the scent of pine or orange blossoms, or taking to an animated turtle. They all can work... why not welcome as many ways to engage people as possible?
crispy
Well-Known Member
My girls are 4 and 6, and they love Innoventions. We spend a lot of time there every trip, and they never get tired of Where's the Fire and the Great Piggy Bank Adventure. They find all these attractions engaging, and they learn from them. I think they can instinctively appreciate when something is done well. This sounds like something that we would all enjoy. (Granted, they also love Duffy Bear so.....).
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
Yes, but....
Where is Godzilla fighting Ironman in this exhibit?
And....
I don't see a single thing here that I can push on and have it make a funny sound at me....
And....
There are NO PRINCESSES!!! DISNEY WORLD IZ FOR KIDS you guys...
KevinYee
Well-Known Member
I ventured into the exhibit yesterday without reading any of the reviews/opinions on this thread. If I had, they probably would have swung my opinion somewhat. I'm a little disappointed to report that I found the exhibit pretty boring, as did my 6 year old, 9 year old, my wife, and my mother.
The good comments and reflections here are encouraging me to give it another chance and from another angle, but I did want to chime in with my first impressions.
Looking back in retrospect, I'm not sure what I would have wanted. Heck, I'm not sure what Innoventions should be at all. Should it be a bunch of interactive piggy banks and fake fire fighting? I frankly just don't know. I do know that the IBM exhibit is smack in the middle of those other things, though, so it doesn't fit neatly together and may catch first time visitors off guard as such.
The good comments and reflections here are encouraging me to give it another chance and from another angle, but I did want to chime in with my first impressions.
Looking back in retrospect, I'm not sure what I would have wanted. Heck, I'm not sure what Innoventions should be at all. Should it be a bunch of interactive piggy banks and fake fire fighting? I frankly just don't know. I do know that the IBM exhibit is smack in the middle of those other things, though, so it doesn't fit neatly together and may catch first time visitors off guard as such.
Dreamers Empire
New Member
I guess to best sum it up, I miss attractions like Horizons and I enjoy when Disney puts the effort in to create attractions I can see and experience rather than just imagine. Even if Soarin isn't overly educational, I've been on it with crowds who ooh'd and ahh'd and laughed and walked away smiling. You won't get that with this. I sure hate to see Disney taking the easy way out with these types of attractions. I would suspect that this attraction alone is not out of place, but as I've said, its this trend thats replacing what I love about Epcot.
bearboysnc
Well-Known Member
I too stumbled across it over the weekend, and gave it a test drive. While it has a clean, sleek look, thats about all it has. The touch screens are slow to respond, and reset. I even sat through the beautiful digitally projected 10 minute film, and when it was done, I was left thinking, did I just sit through? It seemed like a great big "look what we did" self congratulatory celebration.
There wasn't any interaction, merely a display of variations of their IBM 100 logo.
whoopie!
There wasn't any interaction, merely a display of variations of their IBM 100 logo.
whoopie!
michmousefan
Well-Known Member
I also really miss attractions like Horizons... doubt there will ever be another 10-minute-plus ride (that was often a walk-on!) of its kind again at Disney... or anywhere else in the world. And I do hope that as we get new stuff in Epcot it's not *just* this IBM type of thing... they have to balance between the more passive/static/ and more immersive. In particular I hope they come up with worthy successors to Energy and Imagination.
Epcotbob
Well-Known Member
I was at the Smithsonian Museums in DC last November and was very impressed. They had a nice mix of real examples and replica's along with the touchscreens and placards to keep things both interesting and immersive. I think IBM should have done the same instead of just rely on a video touchscreens and posterboard.
Epcotbob
Well-Known Member
I did finally get to get to experience the exhibit a few weeks ago, so here is my updated "hands-on" review in 3 parts:
Part 1: The exterior with the video (gesture) wall: Very cool as well as the functioning "World Computer Grid" server system on display, well done.
Part 2: The 10 minute intro video in the theater: Also very good, I started to think maybe I totally miss-judged this exhibit.
Part 3: The main exhibit area with the 7 foot touch screen TV's: Here is where they lose it. As I feared, sterile and uninteresting. There were a few people trying out the touchscreens, but they usually lasted less than 1 minute before they moved on. For a fairly busy day at Epcot, hardly anyone in the exhibit.
Part 1: The exterior with the video (gesture) wall: Very cool as well as the functioning "World Computer Grid" server system on display, well done.
Part 2: The 10 minute intro video in the theater: Also very good, I started to think maybe I totally miss-judged this exhibit.
Part 3: The main exhibit area with the 7 foot touch screen TV's: Here is where they lose it. As I feared, sterile and uninteresting. There were a few people trying out the touchscreens, but they usually lasted less than 1 minute before they moved on. For a fairly busy day at Epcot, hardly anyone in the exhibit.
flavious27
Well-Known Member
Can we get a Google area in innoventions already? They are the ones that are innovating on several fronts.
Having a glass display would be a really mind blowing experience for guests.
They could also have these zooming around the speedway along with finding a use for the Flamingo Crossings area.
Having a glass display would be a really mind blowing experience for guests.
They could also have these zooming around the speedway along with finding a use for the Flamingo Crossings area.
Bolt
Well-Known Member
Two things:
1. GM is the car company for Disney, so you'll never see Google Street View Vehicles
2. Google Glass is not even past the 6 person developer test right now so there is nothing to show yet. I doubt they'd want a million people man handling their equipment and breaking it.
