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Research & Evaluation

Nano Tabletops

Report date: July, 2006

 

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General Description: 

Uncued interviews took place with a total of 30 visitors. Interviews were conducted on Friday, July 14, Monday, July 17, and Tuesday, July 18, 2006. Visitors were approached for an interview after sitting at the table for around 5 minutes. Ten visitors were interviewed for each of the three tabletops: Nano Definition, Quantum Dots, and Carbon Nanotubes.

Major Findings: 

The formative evaluation of the Nano Tabletops show that although visitors understood generally what the demonstrations were trying to show, oftentimes they did not carry away specific information after the fact. And although visitors also reported strong interest in the demonstrations, they reported far less interest in nanotechnology itself.

Type of product(s) studied: 

  • Program

Method(s) of data collection: 

  • interviews

Documents: 

application/pdf iconnano_table_top_prototyping_report.pdf

Author(s): 

Kirsten Ellenbogen
Denise Huynh

Associated product(s): 

NISE Network product

Unexpected Properties

This exhibit demonstrates how materials at the nanoscale can have unexpected properties. The tabletop interactive, Quantum Dots, focuses on the property of color and how a material’s color may change when brought down to the nanoscale. Visitors alter the size of a magnified quantum dot and watch the light that it emits shift from red to blue as it shrinks to a fraction of a nanometer. The copy panel and side monitors explain how unexpected properties are being used in real-world applications of quantum dots and nanoparticles, from medical imaging to consumer goods.

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