Video description: Children run and play with exhibits in the gallery, peering back at circular screens featuring eyes that open to reveal artwork, manipulating color and shadow on a large projection, arranging laminated imagery on a light table, and interacting with physical objects that trigger fun projected responses as they carve or drum.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met's 81st Street Studio is a 3,500 square-foot interactive children’s space where art meets science. The studio invites the museum's youngest visitors to explore, discover, and interact with art and its materials. Bluecadet conceived and developed four signature interactive programs for the space, each offering a distinct way for kids to engage with art, science, and creative play.
The Tree
Learning through making
At the center of the 81st Street Studio is a tree-like structure with a digital station inviting visitors of all ages to create and play.
Video description: Children play independently in a colorful play space, as one child approaches a rounded table displaying digital text prompts such as "Carve Designs” and “Print Designs.”
Using camera vision and projection, the station offers two interactive activities: visitors can carve their own "woodblock" and create virtual impressions with various colors, patterns, and attributes, or design physical drums and use digital tools to play them in different musical styles.
The Ramble
Playing with the science of light
The back wall of the space features an immersive, multi-user visual playground celebrating artists' use of light and color. A dynamic projection wall and light table let children experiment with patterns and art images, exploring optics, light behavior, and properties through modes like color, shadow, and distortion to create mesmerizing visual displays.
Video description: Children sit and stand at a console and assemble cards with paintings printed on them, on a clear projector panel. As they assemble the cards, distorted images are projected on a large screen opposite them.
The Log
Exploring material science
Understanding the scientific properties and artistic potential of materials provides a natural entry point for children to appreciate art. Integrated within a curving form are interactive touchscreens exploring three materials: clay, metal, and wood.
Video description: Children interact with touchscreens displaying options to explore like "Clay," "Metal," and "Wood." The bright, colorful atmosphere and decor of the space are shown in the background.
Each screen offers activities for children to compare materials, discover fun facts about their properties, and see real-world examples of how artists use them. An adjacent microscope lets children examine these materials up close, encouraging close observation and scientific investigation.
Subtle Magic
Hidden surprises throughout the space
Hidden throughout the space are what Heidi Holder, the museum's Chair of Education, calls "subtle magic." These unexpected visual surprises reward discovery and close observation. Small eyes peer out from unexpected places; as visitors approach, the eye blinks and reveals a delightful surprise from The Met collection. These moments evoke the experience of visiting the full museum, where there is always more to discover and explore.
Video description: Children peer into digital screen cut-outs on the side of a wooden cabinet and on top of it. The display first shows a stylized eye that morphs into a cube.
Prototyping for Precision
User testing for optimal UX
To better understand the intended audience (children ages 3 to 11) and their engagement with such bespoke and tactile interfaces, extensive user testing was essential. To that end, our prototyping process focused on usability, UX features, and technical performance. Our specific goals were to assess the effectiveness of the interactive experience, evaluate the accuracy of our camera-based visitor tracking, and identify the additional UI elements needed to better guide visitors.
Video description: A child tests an early prototype of an interactive. As he interacts with the projector, words like “Color,” “Shadow,” and “Distort” are projected onto a large screen. The scene changes and another person’s hands are then shown on a tabletop. They use a stylus on a digital design interface labeled “Print Design!”
Awards & Press
SEGD Global Design Awards
2024 Global Design Award Honoree
ADC Annual Awards
2024 Merit Winner, Experiential Design
Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards
2024 Finalist, Experience Design
Blooloop Innovation Awards
2024 Winner, Experiential Technology
The New York Times
Project featured in article, “A Garden of Artful Delight”
Comm Arts
2024 Interactive Annual Featured Exhibit
Core77 Design Awards 2024
2024 Winner, Interaction Design
FWA
Multiple exhibits awarded "FWA of the Day"
Creative Partners
KOKO Architecture + Design
Yamaha
Max Hollein | Marina Kellen French DirectorEducation is a critical—and very exciting—part of The Met’s mission, and we are proud to open the extraordinary new 81st Street Studio ... We are grateful to Bluecadet for their contributions in making the space an interactive learning experience for children.
Explore More
Video description: Visitors interact with museum exhibits, including blowing into a device to clean a projected riverscape, tracing the path of a glowing river on a wall map, and matching pucks with information about the water cycle on them to an illustration.
Video description: Visitors activate selections on a touchtable, choose words from a tray to create their own message, and touch a button to begin an animated projection.