VHH · Project

AI-Powered Tools to Digitize, Search, and Curate Large Film and Media Archives

digitalTestedTRL 6

Imagine you have thousands of old film reels sitting in vaults — historically priceless footage from World War II — but nobody can easily search, compare, or reuse them because they're not properly digitized or tagged. This project built a complete digital platform that takes those old films, digitizes them at high quality, then uses machine learning to automatically analyze and annotate the footage frame by frame. Think of it like building a smart search engine for historical video — linking films with photos, audio, and text so researchers, teachers, and museum visitors can explore the stories buried in the footage instead of watching hours of unorganized material.

By the numbers

EUR 4,989,378

EU funding for development

consortium partners

countries involved (AT, DE, FR, IL)

total project deliverables

SMEs in the consortium

completed demo deliverables (full system + back-end + front-end)

The business problem

What needed solving

Cultural heritage institutions, archives, and media companies sit on vast collections of historical film and audiovisual material that is either undigitized or poorly catalogued. Manually reviewing, annotating, and cross-referencing thousands of hours of footage is prohibitively expensive and slow, leaving valuable content locked away and inaccessible to researchers, educators, and the public.

The solution

What was built

A complete Media Management and Search Infrastructure (VHH-MMSI) consisting of: a back-end with media management system, search engine, and machine-learning analytics platform; responsive web-based front-end interfaces supporting multiple engagement levels; and integrated tools for advanced digitization, automated video analysis, time-based annotation, and dynamic linking of films with photographs, audio, and text.

Audience

Who needs this

National archives and memorial museums with large undigitized film collectionsEdTech companies building interactive history and cultural heritage learning productsBroadcast archives and film restoration studios needing automated cataloguingMedia asset management software companies looking for AI-powered video analysis modulesCultural tourism operators creating digital visitor experiences from archival material

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Museums, Libraries & Archives

any

Target: National archives, memorial museums, and cultural heritage institutions with large undigitized or poorly catalogued film and media collections

If you are a museum or national archive struggling to make your film collections accessible to researchers and the public — this project developed a complete Media Management and Search Infrastructure (VHH-MMSI) that combines advanced digitization with machine-learning-driven automated analysis and time-based annotation. The platform was built by a 13-partner consortium across 4 countries and delivered both back-end analytics and responsive web-based front-end interfaces for different user engagement levels.

Education & EdTech

any

Target: Educational publishers, e-learning platform providers, and organizations developing interactive history curricula

If you are an education company looking to create compelling digital learning experiences from historical media — this project built tools for digital storytelling that dynamically link film records with photographs, audio, and text. The system supports curated engagement levels from casual browsing to deep co-creation, making it possible to turn raw archival footage into structured, interactive learning modules without manual frame-by-frame work.

Media & Content Industries

mid-size

Target: Broadcast archives, film restoration studios, and media asset management companies

If you are a media company dealing with large video libraries that need automated tagging, search, and cross-referencing — this project developed machine-learning components for automated video analysis integrated into a full media management platform. The VHH-MMSI handles advanced digitization, automated content analysis, and linking of different media types, which could reduce the manual effort needed to catalogue and make searchable large volumes of audiovisual content.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to license or adopt this technology?

The project was funded with EUR 4,989,378 in EU contribution as an Innovation Action. Licensing terms for the VHH-MMSI platform are not specified in available project data. Interested parties should contact the coordinator at Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft to discuss commercial licensing or partnership options.

Can this scale to handle large commercial media archives?

The platform was designed to handle a significant selection of historical film records with integrated media analytics, search, and management components. The completed VHH-MMSI includes both back-end infrastructure and responsive web-based front-end interfaces. Based on available project data, the system was built for research-scale collections rather than tested at full commercial broadcast-archive scale.

Who owns the intellectual property?

The project involved 13 partners across 4 countries (AT, DE, FR, IL), including 3 SMEs and 2 industry partners. IP ownership follows standard Horizon 2020 rules where each partner owns the results they generate. Specific licensing arrangements would need to be discussed with the consortium coordinator.

What exactly was delivered as a working system?

Three key demo deliverables were completed: the full VHH-MMSI with integrated media analytics, the back-end system (media management, search, and analytics platform), and responsive web-based front-end interfaces for different engagement levels. A total of 22 deliverables were produced across the project.

Is this only for Holocaust-related content or can it be applied to other domains?

While built around Holocaust film records, the project explicitly aimed to create best practice models and toolkits for advanced digitization, automated analysis, and linking of different media types. The deliverables describe a general-purpose media management and search infrastructure with modular analytics components that could be adapted to other cultural heritage or media collections.

How long did development take and is the project still active?

The project ran from January 2019 to March 2023, approximately 4 years. The project status is closed, meaning active EU funding has ended, but the developed platform and tools remain available through the consortium partners.

Consortium

Who built it

The 13-partner consortium spans 4 countries (Austria, Germany, France, Israel) with a mix of 4 universities, 3 research organizations, 2 industry partners, and 4 other entities including 3 SMEs. The 15% industry ratio is relatively low, meaning this was primarily a research-driven effort led by the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft in Austria (a research institution, not an SME). The involvement of specialized SMEs suggests niche technology providers contributed to the build, but the lack of a major industry anchor partner means commercial rollout would likely require new partnerships with archive management or media technology companies.

LUDWIG BOLTZMANN GESELLSCHAFT OSTERREICHISCHE VEREINIGUNG ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTLICHEN FORSCHUNGCoordinator · AT
OSTERREICHISCHES FILMMUSEUM VEREINparticipant · AT
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIENparticipant · AT
RTD SERVICES OGparticipant · AT
JUSTUS-LIEBIG-UNIVERSITAET GIESSENparticipant · DE
UNIVERSITAET BREMENparticipant · DE
DFF - DEUTSCHES FILMINSTITUT & FILMMUSEUMparticipant · DE
THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEMparticipant · IL
CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRSparticipant · FR

How to reach the team

Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (Austria) — contact via project website or institutional directory

Order a report on this consortium See LUDWIG BOLTZMANN GESELLSCHAFT OSTERREICHISCHE VEREINIGUNG ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTLICHEN FORSCHUNG profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how VHH's media management and AI analysis tools could work for your archive or media collection? SciTransfer can connect you with the right consortium partner.

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