New “Futures”. Exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building, a magnificently renovated building is the tangible embodiment of Orpheus’s stirring remarks in the amazing musical modern. Hadestown: To the world that we want, and to the one that we are living in right now.
The “Futures Past” section is where visitors first come across. It showcases some of the innovations that have shaped our world today. This includes an 1844 Morse Vail Telegraph Key believed to come from Baltimore-Washington’s original telegraph lines, the 1909 Bakelizer, which made the first synthetic plastic in the world, Robert Goddard’s 1935 A series rocket and a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome.
Suchi Reddy’s beautiful two-story home is located under the central dome. You + meInteractive interactive installation using A.I. to sum up one-word answers of visitors on their future outlook in order for them to come up with a collective judgment. When I visited it, the atmosphere was positive.
In the “Futures That Work”, section, Alphabet Inc. showcases a huge crop-tending robot as well as a Hyperloop pod that can travel through tunnels at 670mph. It looked cramped.
Visitors can collaborate to design a city or spend some time with Emanuel Gollob meditating. A.I. Does NothingPlease see: A purple-colored installation that seems to mimic their movements.
In the “Futures That Inspire”, you will find the Oceanix floating city model (seasteaders, take note!) and the Bell Nexus vertical takeoff-and-landing flying taxi. This area features technologies from the past and present that make human life better.