Technology and Ingenuity

This is a prose ode written to applaud Singapore for technology and ingenuity.  Here are just a few examples of simple, but amazing, innovations I noticed during my too-brief visit:


1.   Not only is this the same place that invented Tiger Balm and USB drives, but this country has escalators without stairs.  It's brilliant.  The belt actually moves people and things at the same time.  Grocery carts, baby strollers, wheelchairs. . .  Accessibility for all.

2.  Hand sanitizer in bathroom stalls.  Ingenuous!  Mounted on the stall wall near the toilet.  You can flush, sanitize, rub, open stall door, and then wash your hands while singing "Happy Birthday".  Health for all.  As a germaphobe who tries to avoid public restrooms, I was delighted by this!

3.  Social Table.  At the National Gallery, before entering any of the art exhibits, I stood at a large table with moving photos of various art works in the collection.  It was a wonderful way to preview and familiarize yourself with the displayed originals.  You could touch the screen and learn all about the piece, the artist, the school. . . It made viewing the gallery a personal experience.  I'd turn a corner or enter a new room and immediately recognize one of "my" pieces.
     But that's not all.
     Also at the social table, you could tag the works you liked.  For example, I started a file on Women in Singaporean Art.  With a simple touch, I saved images in my folder.  AND THEN I was able to open my folder and CREATE a poster of the works I selected.  THIS I emailed to myself.
      Here is a partial of the poster I made called Siapa Nama Kamu-- What is your name?  It is a souvenir of my visit on July 4th:

4.  Children's art.  This interactive feature was also at the National Gallery, in the Children's Museum.  Titled "Who's in the Woods?" it invited children to design and them bring to life an animal.  I went with four year-old Lauren who was perfectly able to design her elephant.  

Here she is "coloring":

Once Lauren was happy with her creation, she could send it to live in the woods.  It would appear on the enormous screen, walking, sitting, and interacting with other animals.  I loved this.  So did Lauren.  She loved it so much, she created another animal, then another, and another.  The woods were full of her colorful inventions.

Actually, I loved this exhibit so much, I created my own sweet elephant.  She had a plaid bow on her head. Here you see how huge the wall-size "woods"are.  My elephant has just passed and said hello to one of Lauren's tigers.  Great animation.

And if all of that wasn't enough, when I got home and logged in to my gmail, a 3-D copy of my elephant was waiting for me to cut out and assemble: