Discovery Museum features launch of Science Museum Group’s new research project
“We are delighted to work with Discovery Museum to present the first public display of our major Congruence Engine project. Here we show some of the exciting possibilities from using AI"
Newcastle’s Discovery Museum is the first in the UK to showcase the Science Museum Group’s cutting-edge research project ‘The Congruence Engine’, by exploring unknown stories from Newcastle’s industrial history through specially made films.
The Congruence Engine display is on until 25 February 2024 of the ground floor gallery at Discovery Museum, and has free entry.
Following over 18 months of research, the films link together machines, folk songs, photographs and maps from Newcastle and beyond, bringing the city’s heritage to life and allowing visitors to explore historical spaces and stories.
Alongside the films, objects from the museum collection showing industrial power from coal to electricity make up the Powering the Past display. Powering the Past, until 25 February 2024, features newly conserved objects - a model of the Chimney Windmill at Newcastle’s Spital Tongues, a model of an overshot water wheel, an electricity pylon model and a model of a modern coal face.
Tim Boon, Head of Research for the Science Museum Group, and Congruence Engine Project Leader, said:
“We are delighted to work with Discovery Museum to present the first public display of our major Congruence Engine project. Here we show some of the exciting possibilities from using AI to unlock and link together museum and archive collections to tell new stories of our industrial past.”
“We’re very grateful to be part of the project and look forward to sharing these new films with our visitors.”
Kylea Little, Keeper of History at Discovery Museum, said:
“We are thrilled to be the first venue to showcase this important work taking place. It highlights the role of the North East and Charles Parsons’ ground-breaking steam- turbine, its place in the world, and the region’s coal mining heritage too.
“We’re very grateful to be part of the project and look forward to sharing these new films with our visitors.”
The project is one of the five ‘Discovery Projects’ funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) under the ‘Towards a National Collection’ funding stream and uses AI and digital technologies to link heritage collections across the UK to uncover new stories and to bring them to life.
Led by the Science Museum Group, in partnership with museums, galleries and universities from across the country, the Congruence Engine brings industrial heritage to life by exploring how we can combine the latest technologies with the power of human-led research to uncover unknown stories.
Using AI technologies, the project connects thousands of objects, documents, maps, photographs and films from hundreds of museum collections and archives to tell new stories about the nation’s industrial history, creating an interconnected National Collection.
Discovery Museum is open weekdays 10am – 4pm and weekends 11am – 4pm and always has free entry.
Research from the Congruence Engine will also be on interactive display at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford in 2024, before the project draws to a close later in the autumn.
