... Some of the advances showcased in 1923 remain remarkable, including a high-speed camera that could take 5,000 frames per second. The device, for which schematics from its US patent will be on show in the new display, was demonstrated by Walter Heape and his assistant, Horace Bere Grylls. ...
Not every advance has stood the test of time. One exhibit in 1923, which was 2 metres tall, was presented by Arthur Smith Woodward – the palaeontologist who proposed that the remains that became known as the Piltdown Man were from a 500,000-year-old human ancestor (they were later found to be fake).
The huge, spiral object he put forward – images of which are in the new display – was described as being a model of the fossil of the world’s largest snail – the original having been found in pieces in Sussex. It wasn’t long, however, before the theory bit the dust. ...
Other contemporary research on show includes robotic tools to help surgeons carry out operations on minute structures within the body, and virtual reality games to help young people with cochlear implants in both ears determine the direction of a sound source. ...
See the full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/04/virtual-reality-and-snail-fossil-old-and-new-royal-society