Heinz History Makes Smithsonian Exhibit Virtual

Heinz History Center creates a virtual experience to preserve Pittsburgh Portrait exhibit.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic limited physical access to many Pittsburgh treasures, like the Heinz History Museum, they turned to Kisker Productions to preserve and share temporary exhibits. We used Matterport 3D to capture the Smithsonian’s Portraits of Pittsburgh: Works from the National Portrait Gallery, which appeared in Pittsburgh from July 1 through December 11, 2020. The virtual tour not only allows the user to experience and move through the space seamlessly, it includes dozens of highlights of particular artifacts using text, photos and videos that are viewed without leaving the exhibit. One challenge in capturing this became an unforeseen focal point: the screen at the end of the hallway played a video of the portraits the Smithsonian did not include in the loan.  This digital frame rotated between 22 famous people from Western Pennsylvania such as Ben Roethlisberger and Senator John Heinz himself! We were concerned that it would be blurry if captured in between transitions, or that the shuffling through of portraits would give a disconcerting feel to walking down the hallway.  By carefully timing scans, we provided viewers the ability to see the prominent portraits clearly, thus expanding the exhibit’s experience.

Click Here to see how the History Center uses the model on its website.