New Science Centre exhibition explains emerging technologies through play

SINGAPORE – It is an exhibition conceptualised by young people for young people – an attention-grabbing and interactive experience on emerging technologies, opened just in time for the June school holidays.

The Smart Nation PlayScape, a permanent exhibition organised by the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) and Science Centre Singapore, was unveiled on Monday by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity.

The exhibition at the Science Centre simplifies technological concepts to inspire young Singaporeans 10 years old and above to immerse themselves in future technologies.

The Smart Nation PlayScape also aims to foster parent-child bonding and raise interest among the community in the possibilities these emerging technologies can offer. The exhibition has eight zones explaining scientific concepts in an enjoyable and relatable way.

Guests can “travel” to exotic places to view phenomena such as the Northern Lights through virtual-reality displays, grow their own digital plant and learn about predictive artificial intelligence (AI) models through doodling.

Speaking at the exhibition’s opening, Mrs Teo said SNDGG hopes to make the concepts in technology more relatable and accessible, particularly to students, and help them understand the science behind the concepts.

“Marrying biometrics with the use of virtual reality and augmented reality... these are all helpful in encouraging them (students) to develop a deeper interest in science and technology, and hopefully they’d see the practical applications in their lives,” she added.

SNDGG sought feedback from various community groups during the pilot stages of the PlayScape in 2022.

Close to 40 students from Changkat Changi Secondary School were involved in April 2022 in focus-group discussions, where they shared ideas and made suggestions for improvements.

One of them, Keen Neo, 14, said of the displays: “Now the exhibits are more organised, colour-coded, and the organisers put arrows to indicate where the interactive stations are... There are light-up LEDs to show us what the stations are trying to explain.

“I feel very happy that the organisers took our feedback seriously. They really put thought into what they were building.”

Another Changkat Changi Secondary student, Julia Lin, 14, said: “It is important for kids to be exposed to such technologies as the use of AI and tech is increasing.”

The Smart Nation PlayScape is open to the public from Monday and is accessible with a general admission ticket to Science Centre Singapore.