There’s a great deal of trial and error that goes into designing and building a new machine. One of Leonardo Da Vinci’s many astonishing traits was his ability to complete this process in his head. Throughout his busy career as an influential painter and sculptor he kept a sketchbook to jot down ideas in mechanics, hydraulics, architecture, automation, and flight. The way some people like to solve crosswords or Sudoku puzzles, Da Vinci invented cranes, gliders, gunships, and mechanical knights. Mere drawings no more, a new exhibit at the Ontario Science Centrepresents his work as freshly built wonders in wood, rope, and iron. Even in our modern world they have a presence that is magical.

I’ve waited a long time to see Da Vinci’s mechanical lion made real. It’s certainly his most expressive machine, an early form of robotics, and one we’re told he actually built and made work. The story has it that he released the lion into the court of the King of France where it walked right up to the foot of the throne, raised a paw in salute, and produced a bouquet of lilies from its chest as a gift. It must have seemed so very alive, walking and roaring on its own. The replica at the Ontario Science Centre doesn’t move, but you get a sense of its intimidating size, lifelike shape, and unexpected personality.

The exhibit includes eighteen replicas of similar detail, a mere sampling of the 1,750 drawings that exist within Da Vinci’s sketchbook. From his Great Kite flying machine to his multi-cannon gunship, they exist as non-working models, however, are accompanied by touchscreen systems that allow you to work them using 3D computer replicas. A good example of this is his Harpsichord-Viola, a keyboard musical instrument. You can use a touchscreen to play the instrument and marvel that it beat the invention of the piano by about three hundred years.

The touchscreen systems that fill the exhibit are beyond any that have existed before in a museum or gallery. Leonardo’s sketchbook is presented across a collection of large screen kiosks, divided into its different codices and made real with page-turning animations, fly-through experiences, and viewing modes that bring engineering drawings to life with animated 3D models, video presentations, and schematics that let you delve into the different skeletal layers of his designs and even assemble them yourself, piece by piece. Interactive 3d Models for every major Da Vinci device, from multi-tiered fountains to explosive cannon balls, exist and the kids I watched explore the gallery seemed addicted to trying every one of them out. It would make for an incredible iPad app and I hope that such a project is in the works.

Also included are interactive projection systems that explore and look at the recent restorations of hismost famous paintings, the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. This allows visitors to see how the paintings survive and look today and how they would have looked in their time.

The exhibit is the work of Leonardo3, a research group dedicated to making Da Vinci’s work more accessible. It’s unfortunate, but Leonardo didn’t find the time to properly publish his manuscripts in a form that others could follow. Instead they remain in his personal short-form, with descriptions written from right to left as he was comfortable with, and with drawings that were referential towards his own mind and memory. The Leonardo3 group has used the benefit of our 21st century hindsight and modern resources to publish his manuscripts properly, through both physical models and touchscreen art books.

You can now dive right into his world like never before and that’s something you shouldn’t miss.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Workshop: The Exhibition is at the Ontario Science Centre until March 2012.