New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science

World’s First Cave Simulator at Museum One Day Only - June 25th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2017

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 World’s First Cave Simulator at Museum One Day Only - June 25th

(Albuquerque, NM) – Grab a helmet and experience safe caving in the world’s first cave simulator, Sunday June 25th at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. CaveSim, a 60-foot, crawl-through electronic cave simulator with video game-type scoring, makes a one-day stop at the Museum. The cave simulator trailer will be parked outside the Museum in the morning, and pulls up and moves on that night.

“This is a safe caving experience for those of us who always wanted to explore caves, in addition to being great fun, it teaches conservation while exploring,” said Margie Marino, executive director of the Museum. “Sunday, June 25th is certainly a value-added day for families at the Museum because the Cave Simulator interactive exhibit and activities are included with regular museum admission and we will have just opened another highly interactive, fun exhibition, Wild Music: Songs & Sounds of Life.”

CaveSim designs and builds patented crawl-through caves with highly realistic cave formations that are electronically sensed to give users feedback about how safely and softly they can cave. The mobile cave has 60 feet of crawling passage complete with a talking bat, cave paintings and real water. Invented by a caver and MIT engineer, CaveSim (located in Manitou Springs, Colorado) artificial caves feature interactive electronic formations, fauna & artifacts that teach conservation principles in the multi-level passage. Computer scoring tracks which formations you ‘damage’ as you explore.  All ages vie for ‘most careful caver’ while learning and having fun.

Crawl through the cave passage, explore multiple levels and delicate stalactites and helictites. Take care not to damage the cave formations – each one has an electronic sensor to detect careless caving.  After your trip through the cave, view your careful-caving score on a computer.  Then watch your friends on the night-vision cameras as they explore the cave.  Try your hand at other fun caving activities: cave rescue stretcher, cave rescue phones, rappelling, and ascending on a 12’ tower, carbide lamp demonstrations, and even a squeezebox. 

The CaveSim will be open during regular Museum hours, 9AM-5PM on Sunday, June 25th.

 


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Related Photos

Kids prepare to enter CaveSim at the 2011 cool science festival in Colorado. Photo by Bruce Hutchison
A student explores the cave simulator at CityRock Climbing gym. Photo by Dan O’Sullivan.
Merrick waves through a window from the vertical cave to the children’s playroom in CaveSim at CityROCK Climbing Gym. Photo by Mark Reis, The Colorado Gazette.

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