Smithsonian NMNH: Cellphone - Unseen Connections

Digital Media and Technology Consultant

What does your cellphone mean to you?

“It’s almost impossible to capture in a single word the dramatic influence cellphones have had on human life. But many of us haven’t considered the ways our cellphones connect us to the natural world, and to an unseen global network of people, labor, and infrastructure. Through more than 750 objects from around the world, multimedia installations, an interactive group chat, and a graphic novel spanning three gallery walls, explore the unseen personal, cultural, and technological connections your cellphone makes easier.” - Smithsonian National Museum of Natural Science

In this contract position I led the planning and design of key digital media components for an exhibition about cellphones, facilitated workshops on game design, helped write RFPs, and reviewed incoming RFP responses. With support from the team I helped conceptualize key digital interactions: the towering cellphones at the entry, a game about maintaining cellphone networks, a game about cellphone repair and a through line chatbot experience that uses the visitors own cellphone with an accompanying on-the-floor data visualization.

In 2024 Cellphone: Unseen Connections, won a Special Achievement Award for Audience Engagement as part of the Smithsonian Excellence in Exhibitions Awards program.