Thinking Cap Connective Adventure System

Maria Bowman

Industrial Design, 2024

The Wright Dunbar visitor center is one location for the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. The Wright Dunbar Museum is challenging to understand, the flow of information is disconnected. Thinking Cap is a whimsical guidance system that makes it easier to see a connected story in your experience.

To use Thinking Cap, visitors choose from four types of hats presented in the lobby. Each of the hats is a distinct experience, focusing on one topic. Each hat is visually customized to the topic. Visitors can place hats on hat stands throughout the museum, where displays will light up, guiding them to their interests. Thinking Cap is a tool to give people ways to dictate their own museum experience. Of course, Thinking Cap is made to help get learners invested in the information, but most of all it’s made to be fun. A museum you’ll remember is one you enjoyed.

A green felt hat on a model head. The hat has a folded shape and a painted pattern reminiscent of book pages. — Paul Laurence Dunbar topic hat, full size model

A clay model of a gold hat stand with a green translucent bubble like a fish bowl that can light up when a hat is placed on it. The model is mounted onto a black backdrop. — Medium complexity hat stand, 1/6th size clay model

A tiny yellow felt hat sits on a small action figure. — Wright personal history topic hat, miniature model

Illustrations of 3 different light up hand stands placed on a white background. The hat stands are all gold with green frosted glass accents, and hat shaped posts for the hats to rest on. — Hat stands of varying complexity, from left to right, most expensive, moderately expensive, most affordable

A context shot of illustrated hats and hat stands placed into a museum model. Illustrated visitors wander the museum and interact with the exhibits.

View Thesis Documentation.pdf (opens in a new window)46.4 MB

Maria Bowman is an industrial design major with a double major in physical geography, she graduates in May! She’s also vice president for The Happiest Club on Campus, a Disney and fan-based club, and the Musical Co-Artistic Director for OTL, a student run service-based theater association. Her interests include comics and illustrations, fashion, museums, and theme parks. She is also a self-reported geek for various fandoms, and makes, wears, and photographs costumes for cosplay conventions.

Her portfolio: https://bowman1540.myportfolio.com/work

Filters: 2024, Undergraduate Studies, Industrial Design, Undergraduate Capstone Project