On December 9, 2025, the Haus der Geschichte (House of History) in Bonn, Germany, unveiled its new permanent exhibition, "You Are Part of History."
This exhibition is a collaborative venture between the Haus der Geschichte Foundation, SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER, the vvvv real-time platform, and IDS Imaging Development Systems’ industrial cameras, all aimed at creating interactive environments where visitors can actively participate in historical storytelling.
Interactive Installations with Real-Time Technology
The effort to blend technology with museum exhibits is led by media artist Sebastian Huber and his team at SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER. They utilize vvvv, a visual programming environment suited for real-time applications, to create installations that bring art, technology, and visitors together. As Huber notes, "The interplay between industrial products and creative software is fascinating."
IDS cameras have been incorporated into several sections of the museum
IDS provides the necessary robust hardware, while vvvv offers the flexibility for imaginative use. IDS cameras have been incorporated into several sections of the museum. Initial testing began in 2022 within the experimental "#Proberaum" area, which has since influenced the current permanent exhibition setup.
Applications in the Exhibition
The exhibition opens with a segment called "The Prologue," where a large LED screen uses IDS’ uEye CP series GigE Vision cameras to project historical scenes that include real-time images of up to 40 visitors. These scenes are captured using a Sony IMX264 CMOS sensor, enabling accurate detection of movement even in challenging lighting conditions. This data is processed in real time by the vvvv platform via the IDS peak SDK, providing immediate visual feedback.
Another station, "When were you born?," allows visitors to project images from their birth year by placing a hand on a screen. This interaction utilizes two uEye XCP series cameras, equipped with near-infrared (NIR) band-pass filters to ensure clear detection even with bright projections. These cameras feature the AR0522 sensor, noted for its light sensitivity and low power consumption. Huber explains that without these advanced sensors and filters, clear projections would lead to feedback issues.
Machine Learning and Immersive Storytelling
Object detection at these installations involves YOLO software, a real-time machine learning algorithm
Object detection at these installations involves YOLO software, a real-time machine learning algorithm. The implementation of a customized YOLO model enables accurate recognition of hand shapes without confusion from other gestures. As Huber states, IDS cameras are essential for "interactive installations in real time" due to their self-correcting image capabilities and customizable designs, which suit various installation requirements.
The collaboration of IDS camera technology and the vvvv platform results in precise, low-latency real-time interactions, blending smoothly into the museum environment. This setup allows visitors to become part of the display, fostering an immersive storytelling experience where the technology becomes invisible while enhancing the narrative process.
A Model for Future Museums
This innovative approach by Haus der Geschichte results in a dynamic exhibition model where visitors actively engage with history. By integrating IDS cameras with the creative control of vvvv and the artistic expertise of SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER, the museum serves as a prototype for future museum concepts that blend technology, art, and learning.
Using IDS industrial cameras, the vvvv real-time platform and custom interactive media installations, the Haus der Geschichte creates participatory exhibition experiences that seamlessly connect technology, storytelling and audience engagement.
On 9 December 2025, the new permanent exhibition “You Are Part of History” opened at the Haus der Geschichte (House of History) of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn. The focus is on getting involved: Visitors are not only meant to gather information but to actively immerse themselves in historical narratives, shape content, and leave their own traces. This new form of participation is made technically possible through close collaboration between SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER, the Haus der Geschichte Foundation, the vvvv real-time platform and industrial cameras from IDS Imaging Development Systems.
Visual programming environment
Media artist Sebastian Huber and his team at SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER have been developing interactive installations for years that blend art, technology and communication. In doing so, they make extensive use of vvvv, a visual programming environment for real-time applications. It is particularly suitable for generative visualisations and is well suited to use in 3D environments and installations within a museum context.
“The interplay between industrial products and creative software is fascinating,” emphasises Sebastian Huber. “IDS provides us with robust, precise hardware, and vvvv gives us the flexibility to use it creatively in real time.”
IDS cameras are in use at several key locations within the Haus der Geschichte. The first interactive media formats were tested back in 2022 in the experimental “#Proberaum”, and these are now being incorporated into the new permanent exhibition.
Wide range of sensors
First stop: The Prologue – “You are part of history”
In the exhibition’s prologue, a large LED screen projects historical scenes into which visitors are integrated in real time, thus introducing them to the theme ‘You are part of history’. A GigE Vision industrial camera from the uEye CP series is used to detect and capture up to 40 individuals at the same time.
The camera (GV-5280CP Rev.2.2) uses Sony’s compact IMX264 CMOS sensor, which, thanks to its high light sensitivity and wide dynamic range, captures movement accurately even in changing light conditions and under bright lighting. The captured image data is fed directly into vvvv via the IDS peak SDK, which responds in real time and triggers the corresponding visualisations on the wall.
Huber describes the challenge as follows: “The camera must reliably capture visitors even under difficult conditions, such as fluctuating light, obstructing railings and a very wide-angle field of view.” The combination of hardware stability and software flexibility is crucial in this regard. “IDS cameras offer a wide range of sensors, flexible interfaces via USB 3.0 or GigE Vision, and, above all, easy integration via the peak SDK, which gives vvvv developers direct access to all parameters.”
Creating feedback loops
Second stop: “When were you born?” – Experience history with your own hands
At another station, visitors place their hand on a projection screen. Their handprint opens images from their year of birth and their youth. Two cameras from the uEye XCP series, model U3-3680XCP-NIR, capture the movements. Huber explains the difficulty: “The camera must recognize the people without being confused by the projection. This is the only way the projection can respond to the people around it without creating feedback loops.”
The selected IDS cameras are ideal for this purpose. They transmit data via SuperSpeed USB at 5 Gbps and are fitted with an NIR (near-infrared) band-pass filter. This filters out unwanted reflections and ensures reliable detection even in brightly lit environments. The built-in 5-megapixel sensor AR0522, featuring BSI pixel technology, delivers high light sensitivity, low noise and strong performance in the near-infrared spectrum – whilst consuming little power. The movement data is fed in real time into a collective portrait that highlights the diversity of the visitors.
“The cameras provide us with motion data without becoming part of the visual scene,“ says Huber. “This is crucial for immersive storytelling: Technology must be able to perceive without being visible.”
Machine learning algorithm
The tracking was implemented using YOLO software – a machine learning algorithm that recognises objects in image data. It runs extremely quickly and even runs in real time on a graphics card. “For hand detection, we use the simplest form of ‘object detection’,” explains Sebastian Huber. It provides the position and size of the detected objects. The screenshot displays the blue bounding boxes generated by YOLO around the hands. For this purpose, Huber and his team developed a custom YOLO model through fine-tuning. “It now reliably detects ‘infrared hands’, but does not respond to fists, for example.”
Sebastian Huber highlights the performance and versatility of the IDS cameras: “The uEye cameras are highly performant, can carry out image corrections such as gain adjustment themselves, and offer all the features that are crucial for interactive installations in real time. Particularly practical is the fact that the cameras can be custom-built on request – from the choice of lens and sensor through to USB or GigE variants. As bespoke solutions, they can be tailored precisely to the requirements of any installation. At the same time, they are robust, durable and reliable.” Joreg, co-developer of vvvv, adds: “For projects such as the interactive installations at the Haus der Geschichte, vvvv is particularly well suited, as it enables faster development depending on the application.”
Modern image processing
The combination of IDS camera technology and vvvv enables precise, low-latency real-time interaction. The cameras detect movements instantly and immediately translate them into media responses. Their compact, robust design and flexible choice of lenses make them easy to integrate into the museum’s architecture. The high infrared sensitivity ensures reliable detection even in complex lighting conditions, whilst the IDS peak SDK guarantees a stable connection to creative real-time systems.
Where traditional sensor technology ends, interaction begins: Visitors become part of the artwork themselves. With its new installations, the Haus der Geschichte Bonn demonstrates that modern image processing can be far more than just a technical function – it becomes a narrative tool that brings history to life in the truest sense of the word.
Precise imaging foundation
Visitors become active participants, and the boundaries between viewer and exhibit become blurred. IDS cameras provide the precise imaging foundation, vvvv acts as the dynamic control centre – and SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER brings the two together to create a narrative space in which past and present come into motion.
Through the interplay of IDS cameras, vvvv programming and the artistic vision of SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER, an exemplary model of the museum of the future emerges – a space where technology, art and memory merge.
