How Kunsthalle München protects valuable sculptures with 3D LiDAR
With around 350,000 visitors each year, Kunsthalle München is one of Germany’s most visited exhibition venues. Hosting up to three exhibitions annually, the museum places great emphasis on balancing the visitor experience, curatorial freedom, and security.
For the exhibition “Hair – Stories of Power and Passion”, the museum faced the challenge of presenting valuable sculptures openly and without protective glass cases while still meeting the highest requirements for protecting the exhibits.
Together with Blickfeld, Kunsthalle München implemented a flexible security solution based on 3D LiDAR sensors. The system delivers precise monitoring of the exhibits and can be easily adapted to future exhibition concepts.
Museums constantly need to balance accessibility, aesthetics, and security. At Kunsthalle München, this challenge is further intensified by the fact that exhibitions change regularly, usually twice a year. Between exhibitions, there is only a limited amount of time to redesign spaces, create new visitor routes, stage new exhibits, and implement the necessary security measures.
Not only does the exhibition content change, but often the architecture of the space itself does as well. Temporary walls are repositioned, spatial concepts are redesigned, and visitor flows are redirected.
The exhibition “Hair – Stories of Power and Passion” presented an additional challenge. A total of seven sculptures were to be displayed together on a large table in the center of the room – deliberately presented in the open and without individual protective cases. Allowing the artworks to have an immediate and unobstructed presence within the space was an important part of the curatorial concept.
At the same time, lenders have specific requirements regarding how their artworks must be protected. Any damage to the exhibits would not only have had financial consequences but could also have significantly affected the trust of future lenders.
Existing security solutions could only partially meet these requirements. While capacitive magnetic field systems are successfully used to protect paintings, the existing technologies proved less suitable for the freestanding sculptures. Kunsthalle München therefore needed a solution that could reliably protect the sculptures while also being flexible enough to be easily reused for future exhibitions.
Kunsthalle München chose Blickfeld’s 3D LiDAR sensors, primarily due to their flexible integration, reliable detection capabilities, and the ability to individually define security zones via software.
One major advantage became apparent during installation: Using an adapter, the sensors could be integrated directly into the existing three-phase ceiling track system. Apart from routing the necessary cables through the ceiling, no major structural modifications were required. This allows the solution to be used in different rooms and makes it easy to reposition the sensors for future exhibitions.
Within the exhibition, the sensors were used in two locations to protect multiple sculptures. Virtual security zones were defined around the exhibits within the 3D point cloud generated by the LiDAR sensors. As soon as someone enters one of these zones – for example, if a visitor gets too close to a sculpture or reaches toward it – an audible warning is triggered. Security staff can then respond immediately and politely remind visitors to maintain the necessary distance, without physical barriers interfering with the visual impact of the exhibition.
Another room presented a particular challenge: several sculptures were displayed on a table surrounding a structural column. To prevent potential occlusions and ensure reliable coverage of the entire area, two sensors were combined. This setup provided comprehensive monitoring despite the challenging room layout.
Another key requirement was seamless integration into Kunsthalle München’s existing security infrastructure. The alarm mechanism remained identical to that of the technologies already in use, meaning that security staff did not need to adopt any new procedures. The solution was implemented together with the museum’s long-standing security integrator.
By deploying 3D LiDAR technology, Kunsthalle München was able to realize an exhibition concept that would otherwise have been difficult to implement.
The sculptures could be presented openly and without visually intrusive protective cases, preserving the intended spatial impact of the exhibition. At the same time, the solution met the high security requirements of both the museum and the lenders.
For Kunsthalle München, the solution represented not only a technological advancement but also greater curatorial freedom. The exhibition could be realized exactly as originally envisioned – without having to compromise between aesthetics and security.
The system also proved its value during day-to-day operation. As with every new exhibition, the actual movement patterns of visitors only became fully apparent after opening. Based on these observations, the security zones could be fine-tuned via software within a short period of time and precisely adapted to the specific room layout and positioning of the exhibits. This helped reduce false alarms and further optimize monitoring without restricting the visitor experience.
Both Kunsthalle München and the lenders were satisfied with the security concept, while visitors were able to experience the artworks without visible barriers.
The successful implementation in “Hair – Power – Desire” demonstrates the potential of flexible 3D LiDAR technology for museums and exhibition venues.
Security zones can be adjusted via software, sensors can be repositioned or realigned as needed, and a wide variety of exhibits and spatial concepts can be reliably protected – without restricting the presentation of artworks through physical barriers.
This provides a significant advantage, particularly for museums with regularly changing exhibitions and evolving room layouts: security solutions can be quickly adapted to new requirements without the need for extensive structural modifications or new installations.
For Kunsthalle München, this provides the foundation for creating future exhibitions that are more open, immersive, and visitor-friendly while maintaining a high level of security.
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