CSI: The Experience makes the scene at MGM Grand
In mid–August, the MGM Grand will be instituting a Las Vegas "first" that would be a crime to miss – literally.
The popular CSI: The Experience interactive exhibit will open at the hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, the setting of the original top-rated CBS series CSI, created by Las Vegas resident Anthony Zuiker. The attraction gives guests the opportunity to play the role of a crime scene investigator via hands-on science in a multi-media environment with special effects direct from the TV series.
People will learn scientific principles and real investigative techniques as they try to solve one of three crime scene mysteries, “A House Collided,” “Who Got Served?” or “No Bones About It.” From DNA to fingerprint analysis, forensic anthropology, and toxicology, two state-of-the art crime labs will help them piece together the evidence.
“The touring version of CSI: The Experience has been incredibly popular throughout the U.S. and the world,” said Liz Kalodner, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Consumer Products. “We’re excited to expand its reach by creating a more permanent home for the exhibit in the place where you could say the television series all began – Las Vegas "
The fun begins with a video introduction by CSI cast members, who welcome guests and lead them through the experience. The “new recruits” enter one of the three crime scenes where they identify evidence and record findings on a special investigation card. Crime scenes vary in intensity, with the mildest being the presentation of skeletal remains discovered in a remote desert (“No Bones About It”).
Upon leaving the crime scenes, “sleuths” have access to a large wall of crime scene photos and clues they may have missed. They then analyze evidence in two highly interactive lab areas, each featuring multiple stations that allow for testing of the various types of data..
At the conclusion of CSI: The Experience, guests present their findings in a re-creation of the office of Gil Grissom, CSI head investigator. Located in this area are touch screens on which they answer a series of multiple choice questions based on their scientific findings. A case summary is then generated so that they can match their results to those of expert crime scene investigators. A personalized CSI Diploma completes the experience.
The attraction at MGM Grand is produced by EMS Exhibits, Inc., under a license from CBS Consumer Products. CSI: The Experience was originally developed by the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History with a grant from The National Science Foundation (NSF) for a tour of U.S. science museums. It continues to tour around the United States and Europe.
- by Bobbie Katz, Las Vegas Reporter for HelloMetro
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