HAIR'S THE WORD
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L'Oreal's attempt at "Decoding the Hair" is an interesting albeit simplistic exhibition that doesn't tell you more than you already know, WHAT's ON found

Moving past the sound of pre-historic groaning and several large posters of a fringed redhead, we entered a bright room at the Nehru Science Centre, slightly apprehensive about what the process of decoding the hair might involve. Silence and a distinct lack of personnel within the predominantly lemon-painted chamber, however, immediately calmed our nerves it was clear there would be no men in white jackets shoving our heads under microscopes here. In fact, all that the exhibition presents is perhaps just a little more than what the average intelligent human being already knows about hair.

Mundane information

One of the first exhibits we came across had a screen flashing magnified images of cross-sections of blonde, red and light brown hair. A panel beside the display explained the role that melanin plays in the determination of hair colour but forgot to tell us what we were meant to spot in the image. The next display had a television screen flashing hair tonic and shampoo commercials that have aired through history, but with so many of the commercials in foreign languages and with no translation in sight (or sound), once again, the entire display fell on deaf ears.

A revolving capsule presenting images of salons from around the world had an interesting set of photographs but dished out little information, as did salon-type, hat-hair-dryer shells with French and Indian music playing inside them.

Games and gadgets

Three pillars accommodated English, Hindi and Marathi versions of an infantile two-player hair phrase game that would work well, we imagine, in primary schools as a teacher's aid. However, initiated by the press of a button, a short film about the changing hairstyles through history and a 3-minute clip that offers a super close look at a strand of human hair were moderately interesting.

Modern-looking seats equipped with cameras, positioned in one area of the room promise to captivate gadget-lovers however. At one such booth, you can take a picture of yourself and replace your hairstyle with a different one. You can pick from an assortment of Mozart's powder wigs to traditional and modern-day hairstyles.

For the visually-impaired

With Braille panels positioned besides displays, and with so many of the displays involving touch and feel activities, this is one exhibition the visually-impaired could take advantage of. All gadgets and displays cater to English, Hindi and Marathi-speaking visitors.