Museums, by their very nature, are often thought of as being places where people go to discover, reflect on and learn more about things of the past. Even museums that are focussed on modern times or even the future tend to impart knowledge of the way things are through the use of artifacts. So onlookers tend not to think of them as places of technological innovation. But in their bid to attract ever-greater audiences to their exhibitions, museums are constantly striving to create ever-greater installations for said exhibitions to instigate the 'wow' factor that will get visitors talking about (and, equally as importantly, recommending) what they've seen. Given that one of the central remits of a museum is to educate and inform the masses, bringing in the audiences is vital to their mission statement. And so it is that in their drive to create more revolutionary exhibits, museums often become incubation units for rapid changes in technology. The irony of this is that visitors having an enjoyable, easy and relaxing experience is so integral to museums that the technology needs to be implemented in a smooth and efficient way. So much so in fact that it mostly goes unnoticed. It's such a fluid experience that the technological innovation happening under a visitor's very nose is more often than not completely under-appreciated.

A great swathe of new technologies would have been first experienced by the layman in a museum; touchscreen kiosks, 3D images, large-scale video projections, motion sensing technology and more - it's tough to think of somewhere these would have been used by the public prior to a museum. And yet, now these once exotic and far-fetched technologies are commonplace in our lives, homes and even in our pockets. The familiarisation of the new generation of digital youth with advancing technologies means innovation is becoming both more important and more difficult. To 'wow' the teenage iPhone user - who can't imagine their life without what they see as the technological axiom of a device in their pocket - is a challenge museums must continue to strive to meet. The ever-accelerating increase in pace of technological development is both a boon and a curse - it grants us greater and greater possibilities, whilst at the same time making each giant leap forward seem more like a small step. The distinction between revolution and evolution is being fast blurred.

This may all seem a bit extreme but consider this: the leap of touchscreens from single-touch to multi-touch was seen as a natural progression of the technology - which it very well may be. But the appreciation that the technology required for the latter dwarfs that of the former is often completely missed. This apparent natural progression was actually a huge turning point, missed by the general public.

So the question is: how do you wow the un-wow-able without alienating the familiar? And it's this question Joe's going to look at in the next blog.