Culture in Qatar From ancient to avantgarde

There are many who don’t like to visit museums as they find them dull and dreary. But Qatar seems to have found the ideal way to get everyone rushing to museums, by integrating avantgarde technology to make visiting museums as much fun as a video game arcade.

- Varsha Singh

As you enter, the sight of a small patch of turf, on which a mini football field has been prepared, complete with a goal post and a goalkeeper, greets you. Soon, a collective sigh escapes the huge crowd that has gathered there. Moments later a loud cheer erupts. As you reach the head of the queue, the reason for the disappointment and happiness is apparent.

A couple of children, one barely 10 years and the other a bit older, have been trying their luck at beating the goalkeeper to score a goal. However, the goalkeeper is not a human but a sensor-driven mechanical device, robot keeper, that moves to block a ball the moment a visitor kicks the ball towards the goal.

As the younger child’s shot is blocked by the ‘goalkeeper’, the crowd gathered around emits a loud sigh, that is quickly replaced by a loud cheer as the elder child manages to hit the ball past the goalkeeper and into the nets, scoring a goal.

No, this is not a practice match before the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Instead, this is a sight inside Qatar’s most popular and unique museums, the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympics & Sports Museum in Doha.

All in a game