Technology meets participation: With IDS cameras, vvvv and SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER (FAST COLOURFUL IMAGES), history gets interactive
Interactive installations
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.
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.
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 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 IDS peak SDK, which gives vvvv developers direct access to all parameters.”
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 recognise 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.
“The cameras provide us with motion data without becoming part of the visual scene. This is crucial for immersive storytelling: Technology must be able to perceive without being visible.”
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.”
Technology for real-time interaction
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.”
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.
Museum of the Future
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. 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.
IDS peak and vvvv: a direct connection for creative real-time projects
To ensure that the cameras can demonstrate their strengths in creative practice, vvvv relies on a close technical integration with IDS peak. This makes the developers’ work considerably easier: All camera functions are immediately available in vvvv, without the need for complex SDK integration. The API can be precisely controlled, and IDS’s wide range of hardware – from lenses and sensors to compact designs – remains fully accessible.
Joreg, a co-developer of vvvv, describes the approach as follows: “We want to provide direct support for as wide a range of hardware as possible. In response to numerous customer enquiries, we have integrated IDS peak. This means users can now access all the features of their IDS cameras with just a few clicks – without having to worry about integrating the SDK themselves. Many people specifically choose IDS because their lenses, compact design and API control offer significantly greater flexibility than consumer products.”
As vvvv is based on the .NET Framework, extensions can be easily integrated via NuGet. The VL.Devices.IDS package provides direct access to the IDS peak functions, making it particularly easy to integrate the cameras into vvvv: https://www.nuget.org/packages/VL.Devices.IDS
vvvv - Dießl & Gregor Partnership
vvvv is a real-time visual programming environment for .NET. It is used internationally in media art, generative graphics and interactive interfaces. The company provides software solutions that enable creative professionals to quickly develop complex real-time applications, translate motion and data directly into visual experiences, and design interactive spaces.
SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER – Huber-Pohle-Timpernagel GbR
SCHNELLE BUNTE BILDER is a studio specialising in media art and digital interaction. It creates immersive, interactive spaces where visitors can explore content in a playful way, interact with one another and help shape artistic experiences themselves. In doing so, the team combines cutting-edge technologies, creative concepts and participatory formats to rethink exhibitions, performances and events.
uEye CP
Model used: GV-5280CP Rev.2.2
uEye XCP
Model used: U3-3680XCP-NIR Rev.1.2