For more than 10 years, the summer tradition at the Museum of Science & History on the Southbank has been for the organization to host an exhibit related to dinosaurs.
This year's edition is part traditional exhibit and part interactive video game experience.
"Be the Dinosaur: Life in the Cretaceous" allows guests to control a computer-generated dinosaur as it hunts for food and tries to avoid becoming a meal.
Twelve arcade-style video-game consoles interact with each other to create a virtual prehistoric world.
"It's very similar to an online game," said museum Curator Christy Leonard.
Also included are life-size fossil replicas, a paleontology field station and a safari vehicle.
"People are fascinated by dinosaurs. After having exhibits here every summer for so many years, we wanted to provide a new, interactive experience," Leonard said.
A preview of "Be the Dinosaur" is from 6-9 p.m. Friday for museum members, with the public opening 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
After the opening, several programs are scheduled to accompany the exhibit.
The museum's Summer Discovery Camp from June 17-21 will be about prehistoric creatures and include a field trip to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.
"Dozing with Dinos" is scheduled July 13. Participants will spend the night in the museum, have access to the exhibits from 6:30 p.m.-7:30 a.m. and attend a screening in the Bryan-Gooding Planetarium of "Dinosaurs at Dusk: The Origin of Flight."
The film features the feathered dinosaurs, the ancestors of modern-day birds.
John Hutchinson, director of the Structure and Motion Lab at the Royal Veterinary College in London and a technical consultant for "Be the Dinosaur," will be a guest presenter July 25 at the museum.
Hutchinson is an expert on the anatomy and movement of dinosaurs and other large animals. He will discuss how his research was used in the exhibit's development.
Another annual tradition, the museum's fossil identification day, is scheduled Aug. 17. A panel of local scientists will attempt to identify found objects brought in by the public.
For more details about "Be the Dinosaur," museum educational programs and membership, visit themosh.org.
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