Playground with a difference to light the way this summer

Playground with a difference to light the way this summer

A new kind of playground that brings together science and the digital arts through a range of fun, interactive activities has been set up in Auckland’s Aotea Square.

Part of the Summer in the Square programme, the Beambox Interactive Playground gives audiences the chance to interact with, and gain understanding of, the science of light. The United Nations declared 2015 the International Year of Light.

Senior lecturer Frederique Vanholsbeeck and Professional Teaching Fellow Anna Yang from the University of Auckland’s Department of Physics have supervised the science behind the project after being awarded $20,000 from the Government’s “Unlocking Curious Minds” initiative.

The fund is aimed at getting a diverse range of people, especially primary school age children, engaged with and enthusiastic about science. One of the goals of the programme is to reach out to groups who traditionally have a low level of participation in science.

The playground involves large colourful cubes that can be moved around on a fixed grid. Each of the cubes represents a region of the electromagnetic spectrum and is able to interact with the other cubes through visible light communication producing both light and sound.

“This is a unique project that demonstrates how physics is all around us and how anyone can engage with basic scientific concepts in a fun and entertaining way,” says University of Auckland senior Physics lecturer, Dr Frederique Vanholsbeeck.

There are seven cubes in total, each representing part of the electromagnetic spectrum and presented as a character with strength and weaknesses to explain the part it has to play in the spectrum.

The Beambox Interactive Playground is free and will run daily with a facilitator on site until 4pm, ending 20 December.

The project is a collaboration with Auckland Live, Auckland University of Technology and Colab and is supported by the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, HERA, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Steel and Tubes and Resene.

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