8 museomag   03 ‘ 2020 
The 3D spaces allow visitors to experience exhibitions that would otherwise have been fully inaccessible. 
© 
éric 
chenal 
THE MNHA FROM THE SAFETY OF 
YOUR HOME 
KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH OUR VISITORS BY OFFERING AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE 
ON OUR WEBSITE 
After Prime Minister Xavier Bettel announced the lock- 
down on the 13th March, the MNHA suddenly became 
inaccessible to the public. Without any time to prepa- 
re, the museum immediately established solutions that 
would allow its administrative and curatorial staff to 
work from the safety of their homes. Less than a week 
later, the museum’s digitization department was given 
the task to make the current temporary exhibitions 
available online. Like most museums around the world, 
the MNHA wanted to keep its collections and exhibi- 
tions available to the public, albeit under challenging 
circumstances. 
A 3D model of the MNHA’s permanent display has 
been accessible via the museum’s web page since 2018. 
It quickly became apparent that the same technology 
could be used to make its temporary exhibitions avai- 
lable online. 
At the announcement of the lockdown two exhibi- 
tions, #wielewatmirsinn - 100 years of universal suffrage 
in Luxembourg and De Mena, Murillo, Zurbarán Mas- 
ters of the Spanish Baroque, were already open to the 
public. Brushed by Light, showing photographs by Carla 
van de Puttelaar, was meant to open just a week later. 
Et wor emol e Kanonéier at the Musée Dräi Eechelen 
had just closed its doors and could not be dismantled 
right away due to the confinement. All four were going 
to be 3D scanned, but could this be done respecting 
the measures put in place such as social distancing? 
Each exhibition also presented its own challenges such 
as dim lighting, moving images, reflective display cases 
or simply the sheer volume of information. 
AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE 
STEP BY STEP 
The exhibition spaces were digitized by the Luxem- 
bourg company in-visible using technology provided 
by Matterport, a leading spatial data company based 
in California. Creating an immersive 3D experience in- 
volves several steps. 
Firstly, the exhibition space is scanned using a spe- 
cial camera that combines an infrared structured light 
sensor with a high-resolution camera. The 3D sensor