When the Grand Rapids Children's Museum (GRCM) envisioned creating its first technology-driven exhibit, it faced a unique challenge. They needed to create an interactive experience that would help children understand and process emotions through the metaphor of weather while ensuring accessibility for visitors of all abilities. The museum partnered with the mental health advocacy organization, i understand, and approached CARNEVALE to bring this vision to life.
"This exhibit stands out because it's the first one that says you can actually talk about feelings that aren't always joyful or playful. It gives adults the chance to ask questions like, 'What are you thinking when you see that?' Questions that might not come up in other settings."
Maggie Lancaster, CEO of Grand Rapids Children's Museum
As GRCM's first self-produced, technology-driven exhibit, "Weathering Emotions" required more than just technical expertise. The museum needed a partner who could:
• Design and develop three distinct digital interactive stations that would integrate seamlessly with physical exhibits
• Create experiences that would be truly accessible to children of all abilities and backgrounds
• Develop bilingual content to serve the diverse West Michigan community
• Build robust technology that could withstand intensive daily use from young visitors
• Maintain sensitivity around mental health topics while keeping children engaged
• Collaborate effectively with fabricators and other project partners
• Design everything to fit within the existing museum architecture
As a rare “one-stop shop,” CARNEVALE offers an integrated design and software development team. While most museums would need to coordinate between multiple vendors, CARNEVALE could seamlessly handle everything from user experience design to technical implementation. Our unified approach was essential for a project requiring a delicate balance between technical capability and emotional sensitivity.
We created user personas by working closely with the museum staff, who gave us great insights into how their visitors interact and play. Using cardboard and other simple materials, we built physical mockups to test scale, access, and proportions, even wiring some with RFID to trigger interactions on iPads and see how kids responded. The process helped us fine-tune the balance between play, exploration, and challenge, making sure the final experience worked for every age group.
Working within the museum's existing architecture, the team carefully mapped the available space and designed each station to maximize visitor engagement while respecting structural limitations. This attention to spatial design ensured that the digital and physical elements would integrate naturally with the museum's environment.
Building on these partnerships, we took a comprehensive approach to accessibility that went beyond basic compliance. Working with the Michigan School for the Blind, we developed a multi-layered accessibility strategy considering the full spectrum of visitor needs, from color contrast to wayfinding. Their experts guided our braille implementation in both English and Spanish and evaluated our entire design system for low-vision considerations, from color contrast to physical navigation.
Physical accessibility was considered at every touchpoint. We designed height-accessible controls that work equally well for seated or standing visitors and incorporated tactile elements throughout the experience. The digital interfaces were engineered with multiple modes of interaction - visual, audio, and tactile - ensuring that children of all abilities could engage meaningfully with the content.
For visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing, we implemented comprehensive visual alternatives for all audio content, including captions and visual representations of sound effects. These features ensure that the emotional impact of weather sounds and narration is conveyed effectively through visual and tactile means.
We implemented a dual-language approach for our audio content featuring meteorologist Ginger Zee in English and actress Jazmine Kuyayki Broe in Spanish. We also developed descriptive audio options for visitors with low vision, carefully crafting narration that brings the visual experience to life through words.
Sensory considerations were built into every station. We developed clear warning systems for light-sensitive visitors approaching more dynamic exhibits, provided noise-canceling headphone options for sound-sensitive children, and ensured ambient audio levels remained engaging but not overwhelming. Each station was designed with multiple modes of engagement, allowing children to participate in ways that felt comfortable and natural to them.
Our approach to accessibility is fundamental to our design process, and it informs every decision from early prototypes to final implementation.
From our research and prototyping emerged three interconnected stations, each designed to help children explore emotional concepts through different types of interaction:
This station combines physical and digital elements to create an intuitive storytelling experience. Children interact with RFID-enabled objects that trigger personalized audiovisual stories on the screen. When a child places a physical object representing an emotion or experience, the station responds with age-appropriate content that helps them understand and express their feelings.
Here, children see their movements translated into weather patterns on a large display. The station responds to children's movements in real time using advanced shadow detection technology and a depth-sensing camera). When a child moves energetically, they might see storm clouds form; when they move slowly and deliberately, gentle rain or sunshine appears. This physical-digital connection helps children understand how their bodies express different emotional states.
This immersive environment uses programmed LED displays and carefully curated ambient sounds to surround children in different weather states. Custom-designed light patterns and audio create distinct atmospheric experiences - from the gentle patter of rain to the energetic flash of lightning - helping children connect weather patterns to emotional experiences.
Each station was designed to work independently while contributing to a cohesive narrative about emotions and weather. Working with Meta4Mat, our fabrication partner, we ensured physical elements were durable and engaging while maintaining aesthetic quality. The digital components were engineered to be reliable and responsive, creating the seamless experience visitors expect from modern museums.
"Weathering Emotions" marks a breakthrough in how museums can approach sensitive topics with young audiences. GRCM became the first children's museum in the country to create an interactive experience focused on mental health, setting new standards for accessibility and engagement.
The exhibit's innovation in both design and purpose has been recognized by its inclusion in the West Michigan Graphic Design Archives. More importantly, it has created a framework for future interactive exhibits, demonstrating how thoughtfully integrated technology can make difficult conversations more accessible for children of all abilities.