Art Meets Technology at BAM's Teknopolis!

Waverly here, your Patch NYC Kids' Mayor!
I'm always excited for Saturdays, but I was 10 million times more excited for this Saturday, when we were going to visit BAM to check out Teknopolis. I love VR and pretty much anything to do with computers and art, so I was filled with anticipation! I had never been to BAM, so I didn't really know what to expect. Now that I've been there, I can't wait to go back! It was SO COOL. There were so many things to do - we put on VR goggles and saw 360 degree movies where we climbed the World Trade Center and went backstage at the circus - it was like actually being IN the circus!

Don't let this picture fool you- I'm actually climbing the World Trade Center even though it looks like I'm just sitting down.

We "touched" things in the VR world - they made noises and you would swear you were really in another world. Speaking of other worlds, in VR_I, we actually escaped our reality and entered whole new world where I was myself but not myself, and my mom was definitely not herself either! I can't give too much away, but believe me - you have to experience this!

You can't even imagine what happens here when you put the equipment on !

Like Flamingos? Kristin Lucas has created the AR experience FLARMINGOS where you can create and populate a virtual habitat with life-size dancing flamingos! She was and explained why she called it "FLARMINGOS" instead of "FLAMINGOS" - because of the AR (augmented reality)! Also she explained the difference between AR and VR. In AR, you use your actual location and are able to change where you actually are. In VR, you enter a completely different world. In this exhibit, I created beautiful and funny flamingos that had a mind of their own!

That's not all we did - downstairs in the lobby level, there were so many cool things to do, like Reflection Studies - interactive artwork using light and refraction:

And I had lots of fun with Mas Que la Cara where I looked at a screen and saw all kinds of cool stuff like this:

I was lucky enough to meet and "Kid-Terview" Molmol Kuo and Zach Lieberman, who created Mas Que la Cara together, as well as other Teknopolis exhibits! Check this out:

There was so much more to do at Teknopolis that it would take all day to tell you about them - between VR, AR, art and technology, BAM has them all. Thankfully you don't have to choose! I told my mom, "Don't you DARE ask me what my favorite thing was to do there!" That would be impossible - and you will feel that way, too, once you check out BAM Teknopolis!

I'll be back here on Patch posting more Kid Stuff soon! For more kids' news, check out
Kids' News NYC!