I decided to focus on the Ball Lifter exhibit in the garage room. The subjects of this exhibit tended to be small groups, often just a single parent and child. The children that approached it were often very young, ranging from 2-5. Most young children were led there by their parents. The number of visitors engaging at one time did not change much about the exhibit, since there is only one pulley to operate.

The placement of the carriage made it was difficult, if not impossible, for young children to position the ball. This facet of the design often required the parent to set up the device. Because of the inaccessibility of the inside of the cage, the object that grabbed children’s attention the most was the rope. However, not many young children understood the actions that were required to lift the ball. They either gave up pulling the rope too soon, barely moved the rope, pulled it in the wrong direction, or paid no attention to it. Again, the parent was often required to operate the exhibit. The children who did pull the rope successfully often missed the rest of the machine. One child kept pulling the rope, and were fixated on the rope the entire time the ball journeyed around the room.

Clearly, the rope was more engaging than the rest of the machine to children, even though it was arguably the least interesting part. I believe this is direct result of the machine’s design. The only accessible part to young children is the rope. While the track is certainly fun to watch, it is far away and mostly out of your field of vision unless you pay attention to where the ball goes. Most children at the young age who approached this machine the most do not have a long enough attention span to watch a ball roll around a room slowly. Because the rope satisfies their desire to explore on their own, or their desire for autonomy, it is more engaging than the rest of the exhibit.

This machine would be a complete flop without the presence of a facilitator, due to its inaccessible design for small children. The garage is a large space filled with large, simple, mechanical devices. This piece fits in with the aesthetic of the garage very well because it is a large, permanent, strictly mechanical device. It is similar in operation to the parachute launcher nearby but not as engaging because the results are harder to achieve, less immediate, and less exciting. All things considered it is a cool exhibit, but it is more suited to older visitors than younger ones.