The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will be in attendance tomorrow (25 October) for the landmark launch of the London Science Museum’s new £16m (US$26m, €20m) Communications Gallery – the first in the UK dedicated to the history of information and communication technologies and the largest in the museum’s history.

Part of an ongoing £60m (US$96m, €76m) redevelopment of the Science Museum, Information Age: Six Networks That Changed Our World will explore the technological breakthroughs that have transformed communication over the last 200 years. The gallery, by architecture firm Universal Design Studio, features more than 800 unique objects from the Science Museum collections, as well as interactive displays to illustrate the stories of those whose lives were changed by each new wave of technology.

The gallery’s centrepiece is a 6m (20ft) high aerial inductance coil at its centre, which was once part of the most powerful radio transmitter in the world.

“Behind each of the 800 plus objects in Information Age is a fascinating story that helps us all understand more about the connected world we live in today,” said Science Museum director Ian Blatchford.

“It is an honour to welcome Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh to formally open Information Age, the first of several ambitious new galleries that will transform the Science Museum over the next few years.”