Quantum Sandbox is a new experience inside Telus Spark’s digital immersion gallery, which opened at the science centre in 2021. Visitors are wrapped up in floor-to-ceiling screens showing interactive images of the quantum realm — like steeping inside a digital sandbox.
The Quantum Sandbox is a place to play with physics principles. Those principles — which include absorption and emission spectra, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and Bose-Einstein condensate — are shown on a 25-minute loop.
Here’s more on what to expect.
The Interactive Zone
As guests move through the 3,000-square-foot gallery, the direction, position, movement, acceleration and speed reacts in real time with the sensor technology built within the gallery displays.
The digital experience is like a pixel playground, an adventure that makes each visit unique.
“You don’t have to know anything about quantum physics to enjoy it,” says Kyle Corner, director of creative experience at Telus Spark. He hopes that the quantum sandbox will spark intrigue and fun for visitors.
“It’s a choose-your-own-adventure in terms of manipulating the environment,” says Corner, who shares that visitors will race and compete against each other during Young Double Slit, one of the five physics principles showcased at the Quantum Sandbox.
Exploring Indigenous Science
The immersive gallery explores quantum physics and Indigenous ways of knowing with the help of Rob Cardinal, a physicist from Siksika Nation and member of the advisory circle for Telus Spark, along with Kainai Elder Dr. Leroy Little Bear and Kori Czuy, the centre’s Indigenous engagement specialist.
“We really wanted to add the drumming and the singing,” says Cardinal. “The drum is the heartbeat of life. It’s what reminds us that everything is connected when we’re in ceremony and celebrations.”
The Quantum Sandbox will be on at Telus Spark throughout 2022. The experience is suitable for all ages.
220 St. George’s Dr., N.E., 403-817-6800, sparkscience.ca