Projects
raspberrypi.org/magpi The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book 31
>BOX-04
Statues of Women in London
Only one audio recording survives of British writer
Virginia Woolf and as her 3D replica is booped
against the brain of the box, she begins to speak
to you. “Words, English words, are full of echoes,
of memories, of associations...”>BOX-05
The Museum Fire
Alongside the box, the team also work on rather
impressive content for an augmented reality
app called Augment. When South London’s
Cuming Museum burnt down, this technology
allowed for destroyed pieces to be revived with
fascinating results.>BOX-06
The Brain Extension
The extension permits the recording of new content
to tags, giving students, professors, museum visitors,
and others the chance to personalise objects with
their own unique viewpoints and information.magpi.cc/2iL8V6Wmagpi.cc/2iLkM4Zmagpi.cc/2i8WMwfthem to record content onto their
own RFID tags. Maybe the class
collects objects from their local
town and records the items’ history
and their own thoughts directly to
them. Once complete, they’re able
to send the objects to a different
class in a different part of the world
and share their experiences with
others. Perhaps a museum records
narration to a postcard and sends
it out to teachers for them to share
with their students. The nature of
the Raspberry Pi allows for multiple
data files, so a first boop could
ask a question and further boops
could provide more information to
continue class discussion.
The team – whose core members
include CEO and co-founder
George Oates, an interactive
designer and project manager; co-
founder and designer Tom Flynn,
an expert 3D creative; technical
lead Alan McEwan, and junior
designer Charlie Cattel-Killick –
use their combined expertise to
build constantly upon the core
concept of the project. A great
multi-platform use of the box is a
recent integration with augmented
reality. Cards depicting the fire-
damaged ruins of pieces from South
London’s Cuming Museum can be
scanned with the ‘Augment’ mobile
app and brought back to life before
your eyes. Pair this with an RFID
tag and these lost pieces of history
suddenly tell their story. Download
the app and try it for yourself with
the image here: magpi.cc/2iLuCUA.
At last count, the team had
13 prototype boxes, with others
already commissioned for use
in programmes such as the
Smithsonian Libraries’ ‘I See
Wonder’ pilot; and with such
incredible scope for use in
education, it’s not hard to see
Museum in a Box thriving.MUSEUM IN A BOX
As the identical planets
play their own themes,
imagine the fun of
guessing which is which
The British Museum
displays a mere 1% of
its collection, leaving so
much kept from sight