Interactive touchscreen exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum

Museums & Cultural Institutions

INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS & DIGITAL INSTALLATIONS

Aether builds interactive exhibits, touchscreen kiosks, projection-mapped installations, and collaborative digital experiences for museums and cultural institutions - technology that serves the story, not the other way around.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Visitors remember what they touched, explored, and created - not what they read on a wall label.

The best museum technology disappears into the experience. It does not announce itself - it makes the content more accessible, more engaging, and more memorable. That is how we approach every museum project.

Aether has built interactive exhibits for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the American Visionary Art Museum, the Jewish Museum of Maryland, and the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Our work includes touchscreen kiosks, collaborative drawing walls, interactive maps, and projection-mapped gallery spaces - all built to run reliably for years in public-facing environments.

WHAT WE BUILD FOR MUSEUMS

Interactive Kiosks

Touchscreen exhibits with 3D visualization, data exploration, and guided learning - built to run unattended for years. Our NASA ICESat-2 kiosk has been running at Goddard since 2019.

Collaborative Digital Installations

Multi-user drawing walls, shared canvases, and participatory digital art that visitors create together - designed for all ages and abilities.

Projection-Mapped Exhibits

Architectural projection that transforms gallery walls, ceilings, and objects into dynamic storytelling surfaces - responsive to visitor presence or curated on a schedule.

Interactive Maps & Wayfinding

Touchscreen navigation tools that help visitors explore exhibitions, discover connections between objects, and plan their visit through spatial interfaces.

Traveling Exhibition Tech

Exhibits engineered to pack down and travel between institutions - modular hardware, remote-updatable software, and documentation for host-venue staff.

Custom Software & Integrations

Purpose-built applications, collection database integrations, CMS-driven content updates, and accessibility-first interfaces for permanent and temporary exhibitions.

WHY AETHER FOR MUSEUMS

We build technology that serves curators, not the other way around.

Museum technology fails when it is built by teams who do not understand institutions. We know the pace of curatorial decision-making, the constraints of grant-funded budgets, the requirement that exhibits run unattended for years, and the reality that your IT department has other priorities. Our exhibits are built to be reliable, maintainable, and updatable by your staff - not dependent on us forever.

SELECTED WORK

Museum & institution projects

ICESat-2 Touchscreen Installation
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ICESat-2 Touchscreen Installation

INTERACTIVE KIOSK
FANTASTIC REALITIES
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FANTASTIC REALITIES

INTERACTIVE
Interactive Touchscreen Map
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Interactive Touchscreen Map

INTERACTIVE
Scrap Yard: Innovators of Recycling
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Scrap Yard: Innovators of Recycling

INTERACTIVE
Jews In Space
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Jews In Space

INTERACTIVE
Food for Thought
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Food for Thought

MUSEUM INSTALLATION
CAPABILITIES BEHIND THIS WORK

How this comes together

Museum work draws on Interactives & Kiosks, Software Development, Digital Content, and Projection Mapping - with Fabrication for custom enclosures and mounting. See our six-stage process for how a museum project runs from first conversation to opening day.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a museum interactive typically cost?
Single-station kiosks and touchscreen interactives range from $15k to $50k depending on content complexity and hardware requirements. Multi-station exhibitions with custom software, projection, and fabrication land in the $50k–$250k range. We regularly work within grant-funded budgets and can scope to match.
How do you handle maintenance and updates after install?
We offer remote support contracts that cover software updates, content changes, and troubleshooting. Most of our kiosks are built to run unattended with auto-restart, health monitoring, and remote access. For content updates, we can build a CMS so your staff can make changes without calling us.
Can exhibits be updated for new exhibitions or rotating content?
Yes - we design for this. Interactive maps, kiosks, and projection installations can be built with content management tools so your curatorial team can update text, images, and media without touching code. For deeper changes, we are available on retainer.
Do you work with exhibition designers and fabricators?
Regularly. We integrate with your existing design team and fabrication partners - we are the technology layer. We have worked alongside Alchemy Studio, Gallagher & Associates, and independent exhibition designers. We can also handle fabrication in-house when the project calls for it.
Are your installations accessible?
Accessibility is a default, not an add-on. Our kiosks meet ADA height and reach requirements, touchscreen interfaces follow WCAG guidelines, and we design for color-blind-safe palettes and screen-reader compatibility where applicable. We can work with your accessibility coordinator to meet specific institutional standards.
Can you work within grant timelines and reporting requirements?
Yes. We have worked on federally funded projects (IMLS, NEH) and understand milestone-based deliverables, documentation requirements, and the pace of institutional decision-making. We can provide the technical documentation and progress reports your grant requires.
What happens when hardware reaches end of life?
We spec commercial-grade hardware with long support windows and document every component. When hardware needs replacement, the swap is straightforward because we design the software to be hardware-agnostic where possible. No vendor lock-in - you own the code and the content.

Planning an exhibition?

Tell us about the show, the space, and the audience. We will come back with concepts that fit your curatorial vision and your budget.

START A CONVERSATION