MUSA: Museum of the University of St Andrews

Interactives fit-out project for the iconic Museum of the University of St Andrews.

Situated on the cliff-tops of St Andrews, MUSA puts on display to the public some of the real treasures amongst Scotland's oldest University's collection of over 112,000 artefacts. Accompanying the artefacts in its four galleries are interactive exhibits designed and created by FifeX. They include:

Kaleidscopes

Almost synonomous with St Andrews, FifeX built a 5 and 3 mirror kaleidoscope exhibit, each with interchanageable 'cassettes' that hold different materials, letting users experience difference patterns as they twist the kaleidoscope.

Stereoscopic Viewer

A modern replica of a 'traditional' taxiphote. Sitting alongside the real one, it gives users the opportunity of some authentic stereo images, the old fashioned way! One small concession to modernisation was the addition of an internal light which makes the images easier to see. We would like to thank the Stereoscopic Society for their help in making this exhibit.

Feely Boxes

FifeX's take on this classic interactive, the Feely Boxes are part of an activity table and contain some interesting items inside!

Maces Jigsaw

The aim was to create a wall-mounted puzzle based around three of the University's maces. The puzzles are all the same size and with the same shaped pieces, so not only do users have to work through the normal jigsaw process of matching pieces with their neighbours, but in these puzzles, they also have to decide to which puzzle each piece belongs. It is actually quite tricky!

Digital Stereoscope

A modern take on the original stereoscope idea. Two monitors using 50/50 glass and polarising glasses create mind-blowing 3D images.

Memory Bank

There was one other interactive software exhibit made for MUSA called the memory bank, it has its own page on our website.