This month, the Museum of Life and Science launched a permanent climate and sustainability exhibition. Durham-based national technology nonprofit Code the Dream partnered with the museum to build three applications for the exhibition. The apps are designed to engage visitors of all ages through education, collaboration, and creative problem-solving.
Each app is available in English and Spanish, and was designed collaboratively with CTD’s team of multilingual developers and the Museum of Life and Science’s expert curators. Together, the teams worked for over a year to create user-friendly, engaging experiences for single- and multi-player formats.
Three interactive apps for all ages
Love Letters is an interactive app where users write or draw letters of thanks to local climate heroes using touchscreen-friendly drawing and text tools. The app randomly displays eight heroes each day from a pool of 14 options. Then, letters are saved for later curation by the museum.
Team Snake is a cooperative multiplayer version of the classic snake game. It allows four players to control a single snake using individual directional controls. The players collectively navigate the snake to earn points while avoiding crashes as it grows longer. After a game ends, players can enter their team name to appear on the leaderboard.
This or That is a two-player debate-style interactive experience. Players answer a series of thought-provoking questions and attempt to convince each other of their stance. Geared toward older players, the game encourages lively discussion. The museum stores player responses locally and aggregates them for data visualization.
Serving Durham Communities, Building a Sustainable Future
“We wanted to create apps with real-time collaboration and bilingual support, reflecting the needs and desires of our community,” said Durhamite Andrea Hernandez Guzman, CTD Senior Developer and project lead. “The Museum of Life and Science serves as an important ‘third space’ in Durham, and we wanted to develop fun, engaging apps that show technology can bring us closer together through interesting conversations, expressing gratitude to community climate leaders, or simply having fun.”
This year marks the Museum’s 80th anniversary. The climate and sustainability exhibition demonstrates a continued commitment to sparking curiosity and respect for nature and science.
Ro Rode, Director of Marketing and Communications, shares, “The Museum is incredibly proud to present our newest exhibit, From Here On: Shaping Our Future. Through immersive experiences, hands-on activities, and local stories of innovation and resilience, visitors are invited to explore what we know about our changing environment and imagine the futures we can create together. At its heart, this exhibit is about possibility, empowering each visitor to understand our evolving world, envision a more sustainable future, and recognize their role in shaping it.”
Interested in our tech-for-good projects? View the CTD Labs portfolio.
