Gizmos and gadgets take over Motat

Motat Get Smart exhibition. Photo / Supplied

It's hard to know who's going to enjoy Motat's newest exhibition more - children, who will be gobsmacked by the prehistoric technology of the past, or adults who'll love looking at treasured gadgets from their youth. For me, Get Smart was a nostalgic trip to a past made magical thanks to the Walkman, flip phones and Videosport game consoles.

For my son, it was a parade of impossibly old-fashioned gizmos - and a chance to enjoy free rein on all manner of arcade games. The Get Smart exhibition is what people in the museum trade describe as having intergenerational appeal, and there really is so much to sigh and marvel over.

The approach to the exhibition area (formerly an aviation display hall) is via an avenue of towering pillars lit from within by ultraviolet lights. Immediately, there's a sense of the future embracing the past.

The focal point of the space is a 10m tall tower made of moving lights with a massive wraparound screen covered in a patchwork of photos. Visitors can upload selfies taken on-site in the photo booth. "wonderwall of gadgets" - a series of alcoves that include wind up gramophones, an Edison wax cylinder, music boxes, a magic lantern, the grooviest old TVs (including a Formica wood-look beauty), ghetto blasters and reel to reel audio equipment. I especially coveted the snazzy briefcase that housed a 3-in-1 record, radio and cassette player. Then it was on to the telephone section where the "ultra-sleek" brick hangs out with the Motorola carphone. The ubiquitous Nokia 3210 (one of the most popular phones of all time) reminded me of happy days when a ringing mobile literally thrilled when it trilled. From personal digital organisers, dictaphones, palm pilots, a Blackberry, the trail of technology eventually reaches the nanotech of the present.

Kerry Jimson, Motat's concept leader, explains how Get Smart originated as telling the story of the evolution of the smartphone.

"But pretty soon we realised we had to go back to the beginning, because the smartphone story couldn't be told without winding back the clock to the origins of smart technology," she says. "I wanted the tone of the show to be 'magical', which may sound odd given it's about demystifying technology, but we live in a magical age - or least on the cusp of it."

And there is so much magic to relish, so many zones and rooms. We were fascinated by the area showing off Kiwi Peter Beck, whose aerospace company Rocket Lab is taking the world by storm. A real-life rocket fuselage donated by the company is on display. In another space, several components from a whopping great IBM 360 loom like something from a scene from Mad Men. The Differential Analyser, a "mechanical analogue computer", is truly distinctive because it is the only known working Meccano differential analyser in the world.

Luckily for the son, Get Smart is not just about looking on in amazement. Everywhere there are things to touch and play with. The Games Zone is sure to delight with early computers and gaming devices from the Commodore 64 to Atari, Videosport to Grandstand.

Many of the games were developed here in New Zealand, so this area profiles some of our incredible gaming innovators. You could spend many happy hours playing a round or two of Tetris for old times' sake. The arcade machines Space Invaders, Pacman and Donkey Kong are all free to use and the view of Western Springs and the sparkling lake means I could park up here for a good long while.

Get Smart is sure to send brains on a magical mystery ride.

Get Smart is a semi-permanent exhibition and runs until 2017. Open daily, 10am-5pm. Admission included as part of Motat general admission.