"Unwrap the Mummies' Secrets" Interactive

Project Description

The Putnam Museum’s “Unearthing Ancient Egypt” gallery now blends ancient world artifacts and displays with modern technology. As part of the renovation and exhibit update, the Putnam’s two resident mummies were sent to Genesis Medical Center in Davenport, Iowa, for full CT scans and analysis. Visitors can discover what was revealed about the mummies during the scanning process through the Silver Oaks-designed “Unwrap the Mummies’ Secrets” interactive.

The interactive’s user-friendly interface was designed to mimic a CT scanning process. Users see the ancient tomb walls being “scanned” with the “neon” CT light, and then five different sections for exploration appear: “Know Your Mummies,” “I-Spy,” “Mummy ID Lab,” “Making Faces” and a “Video Gallery.” The first four sections combine images and descriptive text exploring what experts were able to discover about the mummies from the CT scans. Users can guess the mummies’ gender, examine different highlighted distinguishing characteristics, and see what the female mummy may have looked like in real life. The Video Gallery has four short videos that document the mummies’ trip through the scanner, an examination of what was discovered about each mummy, and what they learned about the exhibit’s corresponding animal mummies.