Gadgetory

the biggest project going on now in Times Square is the smallest world you've ever seen enter Gulliver's Gate and you will find a 40 million dollar exhibit of a massive miniature world this new york city attraction features models of 50 different nations packed with iconic landmarks and world wonders all brought to life with a unique blend of technology this goes way beyond your grandfather's holiday train set in the span of a football field you'll walk through more than 300 different model scenes within every inch there's a different story to discover some a little more action-packed than others Easter eggs are hidden throughout the models it's a way for the artist to wink back at their audience hey there Spidey some scenes can also animate with your help an admission ticket cost $36 and with it comes a golden key with an RFID chip insert that key into a station turn it and watch the model come to life adding to the magic are self-driving cars these vehicles are powered by inductive charging with copper embedded in the road infrared sensors are placed on the road and talked to sensors in the car with a computer system directing the vehicles making sure they don't crash with just weeks until the official opening on May 9th the team is also in the middle of building an airport with similar technology the planes have inductive charging coils hidden inside the tail fins gulliver's gate is both tiny and fascinating and overwhelming all at the same time it's got models of some of the greatest buildings and moments from around the world on the top and underneath we've got arduino x' and raspberry PI's and circuitry for days controlling the planes trains and cars and at the center of it all is the command center the hub keeping track of all these systems if you have a question for the technicians just walk up and ask we are not static Museum where people cycle through look at the pretty things and walk away we want people to ask us questions we have an open hole in this wall for that reason we have two garage doors in our workshop that lift up so that people can talk to our model makers there's nothing small about what it took to make this attraction the best model makers from every corner of the world were recruited to construct a representation of their own region New York was made in Brooklyn by 16 people over the course of a year but the miniature Latin America was made in Argentina by 15 people in just two months in total there are more than 1,000 trains 10,000 cars and a hundred thousand tiny people some buildings and scenes were crafted by hand others were made with the help of 3d printers and you could be 3d printed too great step into this body scanner and order a miniature print of yourself you can even be printed small enough to be placed in the exhibit at Gulliver's gate you enter feeling like a giant but when you leave you just may realize how small you really are for CNET I'm Bridget Carey