Inside the Super Hadron Collider

The super hadron collider at CERN is amazing science, but how does it work? I developed several interactive exhibits to teach the secrets of the universe! These and many more fun and educational exhibits make up CERN’s brand new travelling exhibition. The aptly named ‘Accelerating Science’ exhibition was designed and produced by Shelton Fleming.

The project was the brainchild of CERN’s physicists and communication group in partnership with the University of Geneva. “The whole spirit behind the 450th anniversary celebrations is to show how our university could not survive without the links it has developed with the city and local partners such as CERN,” explains Didier Raboud, Head of Geneva University’s Communication team. “This exhibition in partnership with CERN is entirely in line with that philosophy.”

“We appreciate, acknowledge and admire the work you are doing at CERN. The people of Geneva can be proud to have you here, on their doorstep,” Jean Patry, President of the Wright Foundation.

Accelerating Science

The ‘Accelerating Science’ exhibition takes the form of a discovery trail along which visitors learn about particle physics, its fundamental questions and aims and the tools used for its investigation. The exhibition is laid out in five interconnecting zones, each of which plunges the visitor into a world of mystery and suspense. After passing through the entrance tunnel, visitors arrive in the first zone where a film and a mural recount the history of the Universe. The second zone is bursting with interactive exhibits revealing the world of elementary particles. The giant mushrooms in the third zone explain through sound and image the great issues of contemporary particle physics. In the next zone, visitors come face-to-face with those larger-than-life scientific tools that are the LHC machine and experiments. The last zone brings visitors back to the reality of day-to-day life, showing how fundamental physics has served and continues to serve the technological advances upon which mankind has come to depend.

Covering more than 400 square metres, the exhibition has been designed to travel through the CERN Member States. With this in mind, it has a modular design and is thus able to adapt to different venues.

From particles to software

I had a very tight turn around time to create 6 beautiful, dual language, ambient video monitors, that displayed amazing images of the universe. Each screen had different super-high resolution images that I mapped into 3D, to give a fully 3 dimensional effect to the screens on the walls. Floating through the universe were fascinating facts in both English and French, that served as a welcome to visitors and a “starting off” point for discussion.

I also created an interactive touch screen game, where children could flip over virtual cards to find video, images and text all about what goes on inside the super hadron collider. The touch screen game was also dual language and had sound effects and 3D animations, explaining the hidden wonders of the world of particles.

You can find more information on the website here.

Design & production: Shelton Fleming

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