A pair of whisper dishes outside the front entrance of San Francisco’s Exploratorium (Courtesy of the Exploratorium) The Idea If you’ve visited San Francisco’s Exploratorium since 2017, you may have seen or experienced them—two bronze-coated parabolic dishes that are 8 feet in diameter, set 80 feet apart, and positioned outside the museum’s entrance (no admission necessary) at the Embarcadero, each dish outfitted with a built-in seat. The concept is simple: You and someone else sit in each seat facing each other and, despite the distance and the outdoor ambient noise, the two of you can carry on a whisper-quiet and crystal-clear conversation from a distance at which you could normally barely hear each other even if you were shouting. The installation, created by noted Bay Area sculptor Douglas Hollis, is based on a set he made for the Berkeley Art Museum in 1987. Originally named Listening Vessels—similar pieces elsewhere go by the name of whisper dishes or whispering dishes—Hollis’ work was later donated to the Exploratorium. The current iteration, created as a 30th anniversary tribute to Listening Vessels, is called Archimedes  after the Greek mathematician and physicist who first designed the curved shape that makes this sonic phenomenon possible. Hollis also designed a limestone pair for Houston in 2008, and other whisper dishes exist across the globe—in cities like Miami and Toledo and places like Cheshire, England—mostly inside or adjacent to science or children’s museums, and also at libraries and sculpture gardens. This past summer in San Francisco, there was a steady stream of passersby stopping to partake in a state of charmed disbelief. We could use a little of that “magic” here too. At their core, great cities are a collection of visual and experiential wonders, both majestic (like our State Capitol) and small (like the cleverly designed bike racks that line the sidewalks of midtown). An imagination-capturing set of whisper dishes would be an instant and memorable draw wherever they’re placed. The Players Since many whisper dishes are located in or near science museums, one natural site here would be the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC) on the riverfront. Another high-traffic and scenic locale: Old Sacramento’s Embarcadero. The Bottom Line The range in costs for a pair of whisper dishes is broad, with one version for kids’ playgrounds going for around $36,000 while others doubling as public works of art can cost considerably more. But creating interactive public art to stimulate interest in the riverfront, or elsewhere around the region, is an opportunity we should seize. “I hope everyone gets to experience a set of ‘whisper dishes,’ ” Bill Nye (aka The Science Guy) wrote in a 1999 article for The New York Times. “I can’t get enough of those. They still astonish me. … Every science center should have whisper dishes.” We hope someone here is listening.  Want to Learn About More Inspiring Ideas? The Eyes Have It – Googly eyes on mass transit Flower Power – Solar panel smartflowers that follow the sun A Window to the World – Urban portals from one country to another