Exhibit review: Beyond Human Limits Lite

Saskatchewan Science Centre disappoints a loyal fan

Back in October of 2021, I visited the Game Changers exhibit at the Saskatchewan Science Center. I had a great time and it was an incredible experience. But, like all things, its time was up at the Science Center and now it’s time for a new exhibit to move in.

Introducing Beyond Human Limits Lite, the new visiting exhibit at the Saskatchewan Science Center, here from January 21 to April 25.

When I saw that there was a new exhibit, I was so excited to visit and have fun. When I got there, I was thoroughly disappointed. Compared to Game Changers, Beyond Human Limits was significantly smaller. The hallway that was previously filled had almost nothing at all. The space felt incredibly empty. It almost feels like they forgot the exhibit at the last place before it travelled to Regina. Looking at pictures from the Beyond Human Limits Lite website, there are a lot of activities that just aren’t here. It featured rock climbing, a stationary bike and skateboard to take pictures on, and more physical displays.

The first activity I did was called What Would You Do? and it was a series of videos to watch of an animated child skateboarding, and then choose the safer option. As an adult who knew all the safety tools, this was boring. Right next to What Would You Do? was an activity called What’s Your Extreme? where you watch a video and then create a sort of collage. I didn’t find this engaging in the slightest and the collage could have easily been made using a free website and would have been better quality.

The next activity was matching your body to a shape that was very reminiscent of the Xbox Kinect. I saw the appeal of it for children, but I was far too tall to enjoy it. One of the shapes was jumping in the air, except you have to be able to hold the pose for it to register, so it is not feasible to recreate all of the shapes.

Following that was riding on a mock surfboard, which was just a balance board for exercising. What didn’t make sense about this was that the image on the wall was of whitewater rafting. You can’t surf in the same water as someone whitewater rafting.

One of the interactive activities was called Slope Slide in which you moved curved platforms on a wall to send a small snowboarder down the “slopes.” Except, the platforms don’t line up. The snowboarder will always stop after a small stretch of “slopes.”

There were lots of videos explaining extreme sports and introducing athletes, and as much as videos can be educational, kids don’t have a long enough attention span to watch a five minute video about the differences between adrenaline and dopamine. There was a balance beam though, and that was very fun. Honestly, it was the best part of the exhibit.

Misinformation is rampant these days, especially in science, and travelling exhibits like Beyond Human Limits Lite are a great way to bring scientific information to kids and families. But on the other hand, when the information provided is so limited, it can do more harm than good. When placed in comparison with exhibits that are much stronger, like Game Changers, Beyond Human Limits Lite leaves something to be desired. But this is just my opinion on the exhibit, and I encourage you to form your own thoughts on it!