Milestone, together with partners Sony, Salto and Essecca were selected as the solutions for illustrating, not only what is possible today, but also hinting at new video applications for smart cities of the future.

Around half the world's population currently lives in cities and, thus reside on only two percent of the world's surface. **According to the UN, 66% of the entire earth’s population will be living in cities by 2050. Therefore, the museum’s security installation shows how smart cities can use video to optimise city functions and ensure citizens are safe.

Vienna Technical Museum showcases the close-up process of innovation. Milestone Xprotect Corporate with a Smart Wall multi-screen display offers hands-on participation where visitors experience the capabilities security surveillance will offer in future urban planning.

One exhibit uses a Sony fisheye camera recording a 360-degree image and a four-screen display installed with Milestone software. Guests can directly play with the camera controls or users can handle a touchscreen to zoom in to the surroundings. There are also real-time statistics counting people entering the exhibition areas.

Another exhibit is the urban garbage room showcasing the value of using video in waste handling. In this installation guests experience the example of security personnel in large cities monitoring the amount of waste as well as who has access to garbage areas. If motion is detected in an unauthorised area, an alarm is triggered. This garbage room display is an example that has proven to be both innovative and evocative.

The access control room works via Salto software. Sony supplied the cameras and Essecca, leading supplier of Austrian security solutions, helped bring the project together. Milestone Systems has always attached great importance to a partner ecosystem that uses the open platform to collaborate.

“For video monitoring and equipment in Vienna Technical Museum, Xprotect Corporation was used as it offers open IP video management software”, explains Michael Reiner, spokesman for Essecca  GmbH. “Hence, an integrated solution with various external systems is how we have the greatest possible flexibility”.

Vienna Technical Museum’s “Future of the City" is intended as a starting point in new exhibitions that explore the future. Urban life, mobility and urban energy are the various themes to be explored in this topic. The urban cities installation is now a permanent exhibition and the museum welcomes both local and international audiences.