Dec
30
2025
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In 2025, Ideum marked a major milestone: 25 years of designing and building interactive experiences that inspire curiosity, learning, and connection. What began as a small studio focused on creative technology has grown into a multidisciplinary team partnering with museums, cultural institutions, and science centers around the world. This anniversary year was a fitting reflection of that journey - filled with ambitious exhibits, new tools and hardware, and continued innovation across disciplines.
Throughout our 25-year history, Ideum has believed that the most meaningful interactive experiences emerge when strong storytelling meets thoughtful technology. The projects highlighted below embody that philosophy and push the bounds of our capabilities as a team. From ambitious technical requirements to complex interpretive goals, each project presented an exciting challenge we were eager to take on. The result was a series of immersive exhibits that demanded creativity, collaboration, and innovation at every step, and ultimately deepened how visitors engage with history, art, science, and place.
Ideum served as the interactive design and software development partner for Pathway to Peace, a permanent exhibit aboard the historic Battleship Missouri at Pearl Harbor. Our team designed and developed custom interactive stations that combine oral histories, archival imagery, and interpretive media to tell the story of the ship’s role in the end of World War II.
One of the primary challenges was designing technology that could function reliably aboard a historic, active naval vessel with strict physical and preservation constraints. Ideum worked carefully to ensure that all hardware and software installations were durable, accessible, and respectful of the ship’s legacy, while still delivering emotionally resonant storytelling to a high volume of daily visitors.
For the Volcano Discovery Center at Valles Caldera National Preserve, Ideum acted as lead designer, fabricator, and interactive developer for a large-scale centerpiece exhibit. The project centered on a 12-foot topographic relief map created from GIS data and enhanced with projection mapping, surround sound, synchronized lighting, and four interactive Presenter touch displays.
Each touch station allows visitors to explore a different theme - geology, ecology, cultural history, and scientific research - all dynamically linked to the physical map. One of the project’s greatest challenges was integrating physical fabrication, immersive audiovisual systems, and responsive multi-user software into a single cohesive experience that could withstand heavy public use while remaining intuitive and engaging.
At the Mote Marine Science Education Aquarium (SEA) in Sarasota, Florida, Ideum collaborated with Mote scientists and exhibit staff to design and fabricate Eugenie Clark’s Enchanted Book, a large-scale interactive storytelling experience inspired by the handwritten field journals of pioneering marine biologist Dr. Eugenie “Genie” Clark.
Ideum was responsible for custom fabrication, interactive systems engineering, and software development, including projection mapping, RFID page recognition, embedded sensors, and animated content. Visitors physically turn oversized pages to navigate chapters of Clark’s life and research. One of the primary challenges was seamlessly combining projection-mapped visuals with meaningful tactile interaction through physically turnable pages. The result is an exhibit that thoughtfully blends the physical and digital, creating a richly layered, multimedia experience for visitors of all ages.
At the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, Ideum designed and developed an interactive installation highlighting the intricate textile work of artist Policarpio Valencia. Ideum’s role included software design and interactive development for a system that combines touch interaction and projection to allow visitors to explore fine details, patterns, and contextual information.
The challenge was presenting highly detailed visual content in a way that encouraged close looking without distracting from the physical artwork itself. The final experience enhances interpretation while remaining understated, respectful, and deeply connected to the cultural context of the work.
At the New Mexico Museum of Art, Ideum collaborated closely with curators to design and develop an animated, text-free introduction to the Gustave Baumann: The Artist’s Environment exhibition. Ideum’s role included concept development, custom fabrication, animation design, and interactive software development, resulting in miniature stage-like displays inspired by Baumann’s marionettes and visual style.
The challenge was creating an experience that felt playful, intuitive, and accessible while remaining visually cohesive within a fine-art gallery context. By focusing on motion, sound, and character rather than text, the team created an inviting entry point that works across ages, languages, and learning styles.
Alongside custom exhibits, 2025 was a significant year for Ideum’s product development efforts. Drawing directly from decades of field experience, our team refined existing platforms and introduced new tools and hardware designed to be durable, flexible, and easy to deploy in real-world exhibit environments. Each release reflects both technical innovation and the practical challenges faced by museums and institutions.
After over two years of development, we were excited to launch the +PLUS Series, our next-generation large-format touch table. Featuring enhanced optical bonding for improved clarity, contrast, and touch accuracy across a range of our touch table models. While currently only available with our 55” displays, this was a major step forward for our interactive display lineup.
We launched the beta of TouchStory Reader Rail Builder, a no-code platform that empowers museum professionals to create and manage their own interactive content for Ideum Reader Rail kiosks, without needing programming skills. By enabling museums to design, update, and refresh exhibits in-house, it allows for more frequent content updates at a lower cost compared with fully custom software development.
Developed in response to feedback from curators and exhibit designers, the platform supports rich multimedia, multilingual storytelling, and accessible content, helping institutions bring their stories to life quickly and efficiently.
The new 43″ Portrait Touch and Motion Kiosk is a smaller, more compact version of Ideum’s popular 55″ version of the same model. It combines touch and optional motion interaction on a 4K UHD display, giving visitors multiple ways to engage with content. Ideum designed and integrated the kiosk with rugged framing, lockable enclosure, and a powerful internal computer, making it ready for 24/7 use. Ideal for both permanent exhibits and temporary installations, it provides versatile, space-efficient interactivity for a wide range of applications.
Ideum’s EM Spectrum interactive exhibit was originally developed over 15 years ago as a way to make the principles of the electromagnetic spectrum tangible and engaging for museum visitors. This year, we added a free lifetime license of the interactive exhibit with all purchases of the Pano ultrawide touch table, bringing that same foundational concept to a modern, dual‑4K interactive surface. The experience lets visitors explore both terrestrial and celestial objects in multiple wavelengths using intuitive touch interaction and rich visualizations. It supports multi‑user engagement, making it ideal for group learning in science museums and planetariums. Designed to help educators deliver interactive STEM content, EM Spectrum translates a complex scientific topic into a hands-on, visually compelling learning experience that resonates with audiences of all ages.
As we wrap up our 25 year celebration, 2025 stands as a meaningful reflection of where we’ve been and where we’re headed. Each project and product this year required close collaboration, creative problem-solving, and a willingness to embrace complexity, all of which are qualities that have defined Ideum since the beginning.
Looking ahead, 2026 promises exciting developments. We’re preparing to launch new sizes for our +PLUS Series touch tables, and are excited to reveal a new look for our Pro touch table. Additionally, our team is hard at work on innovative new exhibits that push the boundaries of interactivity - projects we can’t share details about just yet, but that reflect the same commitment to storytelling, education, and engagement that has defined our work for the last quarter-century.
We are deeply grateful to the partners, clients, and collaborators who trusted us with ambitious ideas this year. As we move into 2026, we look forward to continuing to push boundaries, refine our tools, and create interactive experiences that help stories resonate long after visitors walk away.
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