The wild sounds of the jungle are everywhere. Dense vegetation is ahead. And suddenly, there it is: a svelte, feathered velociraptor staring right at you, blinking with menacing curiosity.
Happily, it’s just a robot, one of the first dinosaurs visitors meet at “T. Rex Encounter,” the new exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Opening today (followed by a free-admission day Sunday) the exhibit unites the Field Museum’s “A T. Rex Named Sue” with the “RoboSUE” robotics display.
“It takes visitors back to the Cretaceous period, and face to face with Sue,” says exhibition curator Joe Sertich. “You get a sense of what life was like in the period and how dinosaurs lived.”
Tyrannosaurus rex Sue, named after fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson, is the true star. A full-size cast of her toothy skull is the first thing guests see. At the far end of the room, a cast of her 42-foot-long skeleton streaks along the wall as if chasing prey.
Before you get to meet Sue, though, you have to creep through a jungle of dino-bots. These robots are sophisticated and smart. Equipped with face recognition, sound and movement sensors, they react to guests and to one another.
The raptor turns its head to get a better look at you and screeches plaintively. A television mounted above lets guests see what the raptor “sees,” and who it might be targeting. Nearby, a life-size triceratops guards her nest. As the little ‘tops jump and peep in their eggs, vegetarian Mom keeps one eye on the T. rex looming in the distance. If the T. rex starts making noise, Mom starts tossing her horns and roaring protectively.
Finally, a three-quarters-size T. rex robot towers over the room. With its eyes virtually glowing, its sensors pick out the smallest members of a group and it begins to sniff and stare. The more movement it detects, the more interested, and agitated, it becomes. The effect is eerie.
Exhibition educator Samantha Richards says it’s the grown-ups who seem most unnerved.
“The kids get more interested in provoking it,” she says.
Activity pods in English and Spanish explain the time period and dinosaur physiology. The whole exhibit is bilingual, from the opening video to the bone-matching game.
“None of the grunts and roars are bilingual, though,” jokes Sertich.
“T. Rex Encounter”
Denver Museum of Nature & Science, through Jan. 8, 2012. Included with museum admission, $12 adults, $8 seniors, $6 juniors and students. or 303-370-6000
