Yesterday's exciting announcement of a potential new Museum of Science Fiction begged the question, what would such a museum entail? Well, for one thing, it will have a floor to ceiling LED screen on the wall. The screen itself is interesting in that it is very thin. "It's supposed to go on like wallpaper," says executive director Greg Viggiano of the 1 mm thick screen. The mock-up in the rendering shows the Galactic City as seen in Star Wars Episode 3, but Viggiano says that technology can also be used for presentations. What's more, the people that donate at least $25 to their crowdfunding campaign will have their names appear periodically on that screen. Viggiano hopes to find a way to have the screen interactive, perhaps welcoming the donors if they have downloaded a mobile app. Regardless, a mobile app and interactive exhibits are sure to become a part of the museum.
The rendering of the preview space shows the Tardis from BBC television show Dr. Who and the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek, but those won't be the only famous structures in the building. Museum board member Adam Snyder is the owner of a very extensive sci-fi film artifact collection and has pledged to loan his collection. He has filming miniatures from Star Trek Deep Space 9 and at least three different Star Trek movies: Generations, Nemesis and Insurrection. There will also be artwork on loan from Howard and Jane Frank, owners of the country's largest science fiction art collection.
While the location for the preview museum is still undetermined, Viggiano states that they should be able to lock something down in the first quarter of 2014. "We'd like to be located in a high visibility area with a lot of foot traffic on the tourist trail."
As for why they're doing a preview space before opening a larger one, Viggiano says that they would like to gain a physical presence and start their programming sooner rather than later. Since most of the team of volunteers is based in D.C., that will certainly help as far as on-the-ground support in finding a location. A six month selection process is also underway for a location for the full-sized museum.
Viggiano speaks highly of all of the volunteers, most of whom have other jobs in corporate and commercial fields like IT, project management and finance. "It's being run a lot like a California start-up. We have people on the project that have expertise in all of the major departmental and functional areas. The common denominator is that everyone is a huge science fiction fan."
· Museum of Science Fiction: Preview Location [IndieGoGo]
· Museum of Science Fiction [Official Site]
· D.C. May Get a Museum of Science Fiction! [CDC]