Vladimir Rozin:“The emergence of multimedia solutions in museums will attract new visitors to museums”
Global digitalization has already affected all industries, even such traditional ones as museums and exhibition complexes. Multimedia solutions that make expositions more exciting for both children and adults are appearing here more and more often. As part of the federal program “Digital Culture”, museums are being modernized, in particular, with the help of multimedia solutions: projections, augmented reality, and much more. Vladimir Rozin, General Director of IT GROUP OPEN Vladimir Rozin told us how the digitalization of cultural spaces is taking place in the new reality, what technologies are available on the Russian market today and how the domestic multimedia sphere will survive in 2024.
About multimedia projects in Russia
- The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has big plans to modernize museums and other cultural facilities on the basis of the latest digital technologies. How do you assess these plans?
- In our opinion, this is a very timely and important decision for several reasons. Firstly, modern visitors to any public space are people who live in a very close relationship with technology. The appearance of multimedia solutions in museums will attract new visitors - those for whom these spaces used to look too boring. Digital solutions will turn a simple excursion into a real adventure for them, as well as add an element of interaction with exhibits, which is interesting for both children and adults.
Secondly, the active modernization of museums and other cultural facilities with the help of IT solutions is an opportunity for Russian companies to develop and work on new interesting projects. They are ready to work and offer their ideas, despite the difficulties that arose last year.
At the end of last year, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova said that by 2025, 100 municipal museums will receive reconstruction and major repairs, and 487 museums will receive technical equipment. And federal support will be given not only to municipal facilities, but also to regional ones. Let us hope that these plans will materialize.
- What technologies or classes of solutions can be used in organizing the latest museum and exhibition spaces?
- There are many different technologies here, which are selected depending on the space and its idea. For example, the simplest elements that can be used in almost all museums and exhibitions are multimedia tables and screens. With their help, the visitor gets information about the exposition as a whole or a specific object: for example, about a collection of household items of some people who lived many centuries ago. Such solutions easily fit into any space, even the most traditional one, and simplify familiarization with the exposition.
More complex examples are elements of VR and AR, virtual and augmented reality, which help visitors to immerse themselves deeper into the idea of the exhibition. For example, AR-objects can be superimposed on real paintings and bring them to life. Make parts of the canvas move, change. The visitor can see how the painting was created or what is happening in the depicted plot dynamically: water flows, people dance, and so on.
In addition, holograms can be used in museums and exhibition spaces to bring objects to life or complement displays. Unlike VR elements, holograms do not require glasses or other devices. And the angle from which the visitor looks at the virtual object does not play a role either.
In the world such solutions have been used for quite a long time, but we came to them relatively recently. At first we worked with VR and AR, and very quickly it became a familiar solution. A couple of years ago VR and AR were astonishing, but today these technologies are used in almost all spheres, including exhibition and museum spaces. And it's not just about initially multimedia complexes like MAMM (Multimedia Art Museum of Moscow), but also more traditional ones.
Gradually we came to virtual holograms and kinetic technologies. They also have a very wide range of applications: they can be used to decorate shopping centers, restaurants, bars and clubs. They successfully complement art installations and exhibitions, and often become part of an extensive set of visual effects for shows, concerts, and corporate events.
- Are all these technologies represented and available on the Russian market?
- Yes, Russia has practically all of these technologies, but so far to a different extent. Simple interactive tables, as well as, for example, sound accompaniment of expositions, are already available in many museums. This is almost a standard multimedia object for cultural spaces. Back in 2012, an interactive table appeared in the Darwin Museum.
There are also more sophisticated technologies on the Russian market, but they are less widespread. For example, museums are increasingly featuring interactive expositions with movie halls, touch screens, and videos that start when the visitor approaches. This is the case at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow, one of the most technologically advanced not only in Russia but also in the world. 3D reconstructions of various objects are appearing, as in the National Museum of North Ossetia.
Among the relatively new multimedia projects is the “Memory Road” in the Moscow region: a museum complex where most of the halls are immersive, with installations, holograms, photo and video memories of WWII participants. In fact, there are many such examples in Russian museums and exhibition centers.
About the state of the market in 2023
- To what extent has this market segment been affected by the departure of Western vendors?
- On the one hand, we have already had experience of working in unforeseen circumstances. During the pandemic we faced a shortage of components and supply chain disruptions, but we still managed the situation and found solutions. On the other hand, last year the causes of supply disruptions were different, and it was impossible to deal with them using the same methods.
In February-March we did not understand how things would go on with the delivery of equipment, especially those already signed for certain projects that were in the works. Most of our work in general was tied to foreign vendors, and their departure became very painful. For those who worked with Western vendors, the situation was the most difficult. It was easier for those who mainly received Asian equipment: for example, LED displays. Some of the market participants did not feel any difficulties at all - all their previous agreements with vendors remained in force.
Software was not so difficult, not only for us, but for the industry as a whole. There are many strong developers in Russia, and the market of custom software development is developing, so the sanctions blow was less painful here.
On the whole, there are pluses in everything. The current situation has pushed us to look for new technologies and implement new solutions. In spring we started developing technologies and creating our own software, which we use today. The equipment issue has also been resolved thanks to the legalization of parallel imports and assistance from friendly countries. Not everything is easy, but the market does not stand still.
- How widely are domestic systems represented in the multimedia segment?
- There are a lot of companies that develop multimedia solutions for public spaces in Russia now. When we first started our way in this industry, there were literally only a few such companies. Now there are many more - as a response to the growing demand from commercial and state organizations. Another thing is that some perform a narrow set of tasks, dealing only with stage equipment or systems for conference halls, and some perform a broader set of tasks. There are fewer of the latter, but they do exist, just as there are those who create AV equipment: projectors, screens, and so on.
- How can you characterize the situation on the market of IT support for cultural events last year: stagnation, acute crisis or other variants?
- Rather as the emergence of a new challenge that stimulates development. There was stagnation at the beginning of spring, but it was expected and, fortunately, not for long. Personally, we have plenty of work to do, also thanks to orders from the public sector. Financing in the entertainment sector, from shopping malls, museums, theaters, has indeed become less, but not critically.
Acute crisis - if things were completely bad, we wouldn't know how to realize projects, what to work with. This is also not the case. Even if we look at software, there are solutions from friendly countries, and someone develops their own software. Hardware can also be ordered, even if not everything comes from previous suppliers. For example, a lot of good solutions for LED screens come from China, and there is nothing wrong with the supply.
Yes, it is difficult for the market, the market is forced to restructure, to look for new ways to implement planned projects, to substitute something for imports. But this is definitely not a blow, after which there is no chance of recovering, getting back on its feet and going one step higher.
About personal successes and plans of IT GROUP OPEN
- In what areas did IT GROUP OPEN work last year? Can you share the results of this work?
- We didn't have anything radically new in terms of technology development, because in general, the multimedia sphere is now more likely to see the complication of existing solutions than the emergence of innovations. We have dived deeper into video mapping, which is projections on relief objects, for example, on building facades.
The most difficult thing here is to make the picture from the light stream coincide with the relief, combine with it and, we can say, interact with it. Then the object itself comes to life, and it looks magical. When we were working on video mapping for the monument in Usmani, the most difficult thing was to make the projection equally stable in any weather. For this purpose, we designed and constructed a special thermal box with climate control and ventilation.
We also reached a new height in mastering interactive solutions by completing a sensory room for Diana Gurtskaya's Center for Sociocultural Rehabilitation. It was literally the realization of fantasy into reality: we had no sample in front of us to figure out how and what to do. There are no absolute analogs of this project either in Russia or abroad, so we challenged ourselves to do everything from scratch.
- Has the company managed to enter a new stage of development this year?
- Yes, we now have many large projects with state customers, including in the museum sector, where we can realize very interesting tasks for schools and young people.
- What solutions and for which cultural spaces are represented in the company's product portfolio today?
- We work in a broad profile. We have projects for interactive spaces, where the focus is on the interaction between the visitor and the objects. They must somehow change, transform, responding to human movements. In the sensory room for Diana Gurtskaya's Center for Sociocultural Rehabilitation, children with disabilities, interacting with interactive objects, can try to create music, play with light, draw without brushes and paints, and much more. Interactive spaces are one of the most interesting, but at the same time difficult directions. Often you have to invent everything from scratch.
Also, as I have already mentioned, we are engaged in video mapping. Our project portfolio includes video mapping of the monument to the scientist Nikolai Basov in the town of Usmani. Every evening, a light stream is directed at his bust, which creates the illusion of facial movement and conversation.
In addition, we have developed solutions for museum complexes, movie halls, assembly, concert and conference halls.
- Does the company implement and install IT systems, or does it only supply technologies, and projects are implemented by the company's partners, partner network?
- We invent, develop and implement. We do everything from scratch to the final point ourselves. In our work, the third-party part is mainly just the equipment we buy for each project. Even software we sometimes create ourselves, if there is no option on the market that covers our needs. The content part is also entirely on our shoulders.
In brief, the process of working on each project looks like this: after the audit of the object and the development of the concept, we look for and select the necessary equipment. Then we order it, bring it in, install it, customize it, connect all the necessary software, and, if necessary, train the employees who will manage everything within the framework of the project.
Global digitalization has already affected all industries, even such traditional ones as museums and exhibition complexes. Multimedia solutions that make expositions more exciting for both children and adults are appearing here more and more often. As part of the federal program “Digital Culture”, museums are being modernized, in particular, with the help of multimedia solutions: projections, augmented reality, and much more. Vladimir Rozin, General Director of IT GROUP OPEN Vladimir Rozin told us how the digitalization of cultural spaces is taking place in the new reality, what technologies are available on the Russian market today and how the domestic multimedia sphere will survive in 2024.
About multimedia projects in Russia
- The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has big plans to modernize museums and other cultural facilities on the basis of the latest digital technologies. How do you assess these plans?
- In our opinion, this is a very timely and important decision for several reasons. Firstly, modern visitors to any public space are people who live in a very close relationship with technology. The appearance of multimedia solutions in museums will attract new visitors - those for whom these spaces used to look too boring. Digital solutions will turn a simple excursion into a real adventure for them, as well as add an element of interaction with exhibits, which is interesting for both children and adults.
Secondly, the active modernization of museums and other cultural facilities with the help of IT solutions is an opportunity for Russian companies to develop and work on new interesting projects. They are ready to work and offer their ideas, despite the difficulties that arose last year.
At the end of last year, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova said that by 2025, 100 municipal museums will receive reconstruction and major repairs, and 487 museums will receive technical equipment. And federal support will be given not only to municipal facilities, but also to regional ones. Let us hope that these plans will materialize.
- What technologies or classes of solutions can be used in organizing the latest museum and exhibition spaces?
- There are many different technologies here, which are selected depending on the space and its idea. For example, the simplest elements that can be used in almost all museums and exhibitions are multimedia tables and screens. With their help, the visitor gets information about the exposition as a whole or a specific object: for example, about a collection of household items of some people who lived many centuries ago. Such solutions easily fit into any space, even the most traditional one, and simplify familiarization with the exposition.
More complex examples are elements of VR and AR, virtual and augmented reality, which help visitors to immerse themselves deeper into the idea of the exhibition. For example, AR-objects can be superimposed on real paintings and bring them to life. Make parts of the canvas move, change. The visitor can see how the painting was created or what is happening in the depicted plot dynamically: water flows, people dance, and so on.
In addition, holograms can be used in museums and exhibition spaces to bring objects to life or complement displays. Unlike VR elements, holograms do not require glasses or other devices. And the angle from which the visitor looks at the virtual object does not play a role either.
In the world such solutions have been used for quite a long time, but we came to them relatively recently. At first we worked with VR and AR, and very quickly it became a familiar solution. A couple of years ago VR and AR were astonishing, but today these technologies are used in almost all spheres, including exhibition and museum spaces. And it's not just about initially multimedia complexes like MAMM (Multimedia Art Museum of Moscow), but also more traditional ones.
Gradually we came to virtual holograms and kinetic technologies. They also have a very wide range of applications: they can be used to decorate shopping centers, restaurants, bars and clubs. They successfully complement art installations and exhibitions, and often become part of an extensive set of visual effects for shows, concerts, and corporate events.
- Are all these technologies represented and available on the Russian market?
- Yes, Russia has practically all of these technologies, but so far to a different extent. Simple interactive tables, as well as, for example, sound accompaniment of expositions, are already available in many museums. This is almost a standard multimedia object for cultural spaces. Back in 2012, an interactive table appeared in the Darwin Museum.
There are also more sophisticated technologies on the Russian market, but they are less widespread. For example, museums are increasingly featuring interactive expositions with movie halls, touch screens, and videos that start when the visitor approaches. This is the case at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow, one of the most technologically advanced not only in Russia but also in the world. 3D reconstructions of various objects are appearing, as in the National Museum of North Ossetia.
Among the relatively new multimedia projects is the “Memory Road” in the Moscow region: a museum complex where most of the halls are immersive, with installations, holograms, photo and video memories of WWII participants. In fact, there are many such examples in Russian museums and exhibition centers.
About the state of the market in 2023
- To what extent has this market segment been affected by the departure of Western vendors?
- On the one hand, we have already had experience of working in unforeseen circumstances. During the pandemic we faced a shortage of components and supply chain disruptions, but we still managed the situation and found solutions. On the other hand, last year the causes of supply disruptions were different, and it was impossible to deal with them using the same methods.
In February-March we did not understand how things would go on with the delivery of equipment, especially those already signed for certain projects that were in the works. Most of our work in general was tied to foreign vendors, and their departure became very painful. For those who worked with Western vendors, the situation was the most difficult. It was easier for those who mainly received Asian equipment: for example, LED displays. Some of the market participants did not feel any difficulties at all - all their previous agreements with vendors remained in force.
Software was not so difficult, not only for us, but for the industry as a whole. There are many strong developers in Russia, and the market of custom software development is developing, so the sanctions blow was less painful here.
On the whole, there are pluses in everything. The current situation has pushed us to look for new technologies and implement new solutions. In spring we started developing technologies and creating our own software, which we use today. The equipment issue has also been resolved thanks to the legalization of parallel imports and assistance from friendly countries. Not everything is easy, but the market does not stand still.
- How widely are domestic systems represented in the multimedia segment?
- There are a lot of companies that develop multimedia solutions for public spaces in Russia now. When we first started our way in this industry, there were literally only a few such companies. Now there are many more - as a response to the growing demand from commercial and state organizations. Another thing is that some perform a narrow set of tasks, dealing only with stage equipment or systems for conference halls, and some perform a broader set of tasks. There are fewer of the latter, but they do exist, just as there are those who create AV equipment: projectors, screens, and so on.
- How can you characterize the situation on the market of IT support for cultural events last year: stagnation, acute crisis or other variants?
- Rather as the emergence of a new challenge that stimulates development. There was stagnation at the beginning of spring, but it was expected and, fortunately, not for long. Personally, we have plenty of work to do, also thanks to orders from the public sector. Financing in the entertainment sector, from shopping malls, museums, theaters, has indeed become less, but not critically.
Acute crisis - if things were completely bad, we wouldn't know how to realize projects, what to work with. This is also not the case. Even if we look at software, there are solutions from friendly countries, and someone develops their own software. Hardware can also be ordered, even if not everything comes from previous suppliers. For example, a lot of good solutions for LED screens come from China, and there is nothing wrong with the supply.
Yes, it is difficult for the market, the market is forced to restructure, to look for new ways to implement planned projects, to substitute something for imports. But this is definitely not a blow, after which there is no chance of recovering, getting back on its feet and going one step higher.
About personal successes and plans of IT GROUP OPEN
- In what areas did IT GROUP OPEN work last year? Can you share the results of this work?
- We didn't have anything radically new in terms of technology development, because in general, the multimedia sphere is now more likely to see the complication of existing solutions than the emergence of innovations. We have dived deeper into video mapping, which is projections on relief objects, for example, on building facades.
The most difficult thing here is to make the picture from the light stream coincide with the relief, combine with it and, we can say, interact with it. Then the object itself comes to life, and it looks magical. When we were working on video mapping for the monument in Usmani, the most difficult thing was to make the projection equally stable in any weather. For this purpose, we designed and constructed a special thermal box with climate control and ventilation.
We also reached a new height in mastering interactive solutions by completing a sensory room for Diana Gurtskaya's Center for Sociocultural Rehabilitation. It was literally the realization of fantasy into reality: we had no sample in front of us to figure out how and what to do. There are no absolute analogs of this project either in Russia or abroad, so we challenged ourselves to do everything from scratch.
- Has the company managed to enter a new stage of development this year?
- Yes, we now have many large projects with state customers, including in the museum sector, where we can realize very interesting tasks for schools and young people.
- What solutions and for which cultural spaces are represented in the company's product portfolio today?
- We work in a broad profile. We have projects for interactive spaces, where the focus is on the interaction between the visitor and the objects. They must somehow change, transform, responding to human movements. In the sensory room for Diana Gurtskaya's Center for Sociocultural Rehabilitation, children with disabilities, interacting with interactive objects, can try to create music, play with light, draw without brushes and paints, and much more. Interactive spaces are one of the most interesting, but at the same time difficult directions. Often you have to invent everything from scratch.
Also, as I have already mentioned, we are engaged in video mapping. Our project portfolio includes video mapping of the monument to the scientist Nikolai Basov in the town of Usmani. Every evening, a light stream is directed at his bust, which creates the illusion of facial movement and conversation.
In addition, we have developed solutions for museum complexes, movie halls, assembly, concert and conference halls.
- Does the company implement and install IT systems, or does it only supply technologies, and projects are implemented by the company's partners, partner network?
- We invent, develop and implement. We do everything from scratch to the final point ourselves. In our work, the third-party part is mainly just the equipment we buy for each project. Even software we sometimes create ourselves, if there is no option on the market that covers our needs. The content part is also entirely on our shoulders.
In brief, the process of working on each project looks like this: after the audit of the object and the development of the concept, we look for and select the necessary equipment. Then we order it, bring it in, install it, customize it, connect all the necessary software, and, if necessary, train the employees who will manage everything within the framework of the project.
