What Actually Drives the Cost of an Interactive Exhibit

Every institution asks the same question early: what does this cost? The honest answer is "it depends," but the factors it depends on are consistent enough to plan around — and they're rarely the ones people expect.

Content Costs More Than Hardware, Almost Always

A touch wall's screen and mount are a known, comparatively fixed cost. What varies wildly is the content behind it — archival digitisation, translation into multiple languages, curator time spent structuring the narrative, and the software to manage it. Underbudgeting content is the single most common mistake we see.

Custom Fabrication Is Where Costs Escalate

An off-the-shelf touch table in a standard housing is predictable. A table built into a custom cabinet that matches a heritage room's finishes, or a projection rig hidden inside an existing display case, requires bespoke fabrication — and bespoke fabrication is priced by the hour, not the catalogue.

Ongoing Costs Are a Real Line Item, Not an Afterthought

Servicing visits, content refreshes for temporary exhibitions, and eventual hardware replacement (commercial touch hardware has a working life, not an infinite one) should be budgeted as a recurring line, not discovered in year two when something breaks.

Where It's Genuinely Safe to Cut

Scaling down doesn't have to mean scaling down ambition. A single well-executed touch point often outperforms three mediocre ones. If budget is tight, we'd rather help you do one exhibit exceptionally well than spread the same money thin across four.

Ask any vendor for a three-year cost picture, not just an install quote — content, servicing, and refresh included. If they can't give you one, that's useful information too.