America\u2019s favorite multitalented Founding Father is celebrating his \u2014 checks parchment \u2014 320th birthday Saturday, and the Franklin Institute wants everyone to join the party. <\/p>\n
On Saturday the science museum will debut a new \u201cimmersive multimedia show,\u201d about Franklin, according to Franklin Institute President and CEO Larry Dubinski. The massive audiovisual display will kick off a day of family-friendly learning activities centered on science and creativity. <\/p>\n
The new installation is called \u201cFranklin\u2019s Spark,\u201d Dubinski said, and the theme is curiosity \u2014 the kind that led Franklin to fly a kite to learn that lightning is electricity, invent everything from bifocal glasses to a more efficient cast-iron heating stove, and help establish the nation\u2019s first postal system and lending library. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe message is: curiosity drives progress,\u201c Dubinski said. \u201dBenjamin Franklin showed how important it is to ask questions, try things, learn, fail, and learn from those failures. It\u2019s what drives society.”<\/p>\n
\u00bb READ MORE: Here\u2019s where 22 painted replica Liberty Bells will be installed around Philly in 2026<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Dubinski declined to say what the project cost, but noted that it was made possible by a donation from entrepreneur Ed Satell and the Satell Family Foundation.<\/p>\n Friday the Franklin Institute provided a preview of the four-minute presentation at the already impressive Franklin National Memorial<\/a>, where a 30-ton, 20-foot statue of the former statesman resides under an 82-foot-high domed ceiling. <\/p>\n Seven high-resolution Panasonic projectors lit up the dome with animations and images detailing Franklin\u2019s life and times.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think he would have liked it a lot,\u201d said Brad Baer, whose design studio, Crafted Action, produced the display. \u201cHe was a tinkerer. He was an experimenter.\u201d <\/p>\n To make it work, the Philly-based company had to conduct some experiments of its own. It created Franklin\u2019s silhouette by combining photography with \u201cAI-style transfer techniques,\u201d he said. It developed a 3D rendering of the 1,600-ton dome, and some of the dome\u2019s many square \u201ccoffers\u201d were incorporated into the visual display. <\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to create something that\u2019s equal parts experience and education,\u201d Baer said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a little gift to the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Saturday at 11 a.m., the installation will commence \u201cBen\u2019s Bash,\u201d a birthday celebration tailored toward learning and fun. The event is open to anyone who has purchased a general admission ticket to the museum.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Founding Father Ben Franklin also founded America\u2019s first volunteer fire department<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n