Living Computers Museum

Story

Located in Seattle, the Living Computers Museum + Labs provides visitors with an innovative insight into the history of computers. The exhibitions will allow visitors to get acquainted with the history and influence of computer technology. You will follow the process of translating fantastic ideas into reality.

Living Computers Museum + Labs is a computer technology museum located in Seattle. LCM+L showcases vintage computers and retro operating systems, gives you the opportunity to use computers in person and feel the history. You will also plunge into the world of an American teenager from the end of the last century, full of slot machines, tape recorders and Nintendo game consoles.

The museum includes an 80s classroom with "modern" Apple II computers and a typical "friend's basement" with a classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console. You can immerse yourself in nostalgia not only by playing the NES, but also by fiddling with the TRS-80 color computer at the workbench.

LCM+L also hosts a wide range of educational programs and events in its state of the art laboratories. According to an archived version of the museum's website, their goal is to "breathe life into our cars so that the public can see, hear and interact with them." And they manage to fulfill this goal in full.

Learn more about the museum in our article.

In the four decades since Microsoft was founded, entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul Allen has continued to explore the boundaries of technology and human knowledge.

With his company Vulcan Inc. Paul has worked to save endangered species, slow climate change, improve the environment, develop new technologies, fight epidemics, and study how the human brain works. In all of his endeavors, Allen has constantly pushed people to challenge traditional thinking, collaborate across disciplines, and rethink everything possible.

Many of Paul's projects began in his youth. He sought to create a future that gives way to talented people and renews habitual thinking.

Paul has invested huge amounts of money in his hometown of Seattle. In early 2006, he founded the Living Computers Museum and Labs, then called PDPplanet. Allen wanted to provide the public with an innovative museum that explored the history of computers and their impact on progress. Most exhibits require interaction with antique computers.

In 2012, the museum expanded its collection of vintage computers. In 2016, the building expanded with the addition of exhibits on the 1st floor showcasing state-of-the-art technology, as well as three computer learning labs. LCM+L continues to assemble and bring to life historically significant computers and software.

Permanent exhibitions

VR/AR allows visitors to experience the virtual and augmented reality that researchers have been trying to create for decades. Finally, they have discovered a way to change how we perceive and interact with things, which they are ready to share with us.

The Big Data Exposition contains the tools that are used to track, decipher and analyze our digital footprints. Visitors to the exhibition will learn about the importance of big data, what a digital footprint is and what its role is.

The museum gives visitors the opportunity to explore unmanned vehicles. The exhibition explains why self-driving cars are revolutionary, how they can impact transportation networks and also change urban areas.

Game Makers Space is a lab that offers visitors the opportunity to create their own video game, while the IoT Workshop is full of a variety of devices and accessories that make it easier for us to access the Internet and use smartphones.

Excursions

Education is extremely important for the museum. LCM+L hosts a variety of hands-on activities that allow attendees to become familiar with the technology. In addition, there are individual and group tours.

Staff ensure that their tours cover all aspects of the curriculum. Schoolchildren of all ages have the opportunity to visit the museum after their educational institution fills out a special form that will allow them to choose the most appropriate type of activities that take place during the excursion.