Petronas Petrosains Plunder

A few weeks back the class went on a trip to Petronas Petrosains for educational purposes. The last time I came here was five years ago, though it felt as if it was my first visit there. When one have accumulated enough experience, one sees something old from a new perspective.

The entrance into Petrosains was impressive. You have to take a ride through a dark tunnel while being treated with visual and aural presentation of history. The visual lights up to attract your eyes when you are supposed to see it, and dims down to show other visuals. The ride even turns around a full 360 degrees. The slow ride made the journey seem long, and it felt as if the passengers are moving to somewhere far away, but it's actually still in the same building.

Upon arrival, I saw that most exhibits are placed lower than an adults' eye level, to accommodate children that visit the gallery. At least, the interactive ones do. Most of the readings are positioned high on the wall, at the eye level of an average adult. There were lots of games and puzzles intended for children, which was indicated by their size, and simplicity.

Further in, there was a miniature ore mining station where you can participate in its process by moving the small rocks around; it was the delight of all children there. Maybe it was the rocks, or the moving mechanism, but I could not really grasp why the children were so intrigued with the contraption. The place was basically a chaotic playground.

In order to proceed to the next area, visitors are required to go through a helicopter simulation. It was an interesting experience, and quite realistic, although this is coming from someone without any past real helicopter ride experience.

In the last area of Petrosains, there were various simulation and test machines. There was one that could calculate the speed of your karate chops, one that estimates the speed of your thrown balls, an F1 simulation, and a go kart simulation. And there was this Mind Ball machine, which was extremely interesting to me. In order to win the game, you have to be calm, as the device effectively translates your brainwaves into points. The more brainwaves you exhibit, the faster you will lose.

All in all, the Petrosains visit was an interesting experience. It taught me the difference of interactions between different age classes, as evident from the gallery's exhibitions. It taught me that one can gain experience not only from reality, but from virtual as well. It taught me that everyone can experience, in diverse ways.