On 30 June 2026 in Odesa, at the Odesa Municipal Museum Of Personal Collections Named after O. V. Bleschunov, Pixelated Realities PO held the final XRculture event in Ukraine, dedicated to the digitisation of cultural heritage, open data, and XR solutions for museums as well as cultural and research institutions. The hybrid-format event brought together museum professionals, researchers, cultural project managers, and everyone working with the preservation, presentation, and digital accessibility of heritage.

The event was opened by Iana Boitsova, Head of the Pixelated Realities PO, who presented the results and achievements of the XRculture project. She explained that members of the XRculture consortium have been working on applying AI-based approaches to create and enhance high-quality 3D models, developing XR scenarios for heritage preservation, and designing solutions for 3D visualisation.

During the meeting in Odesa, these developments were considered in the context of Ukraine’s specific challenges – from the need for rapid digital recording of heritage objects to creating new access scenarios for evacuated and conserved museum collections.

“The collection of the Odesa Municipal Museum Of Personal Collections Named after O. V. Bleschunov is not accessible to visitors in the museum’s exhibition during the war. As early as July 2026, 112 3D models will be aggregated to Europeana and added to the Register of the Museum Fund of Ukraine thanks to the support of the XRculture project,” said Iana Boitsova. “These are objects described with meta- and paradata, endangered Ukrainian heritage that will become a bridge between these two databases. The creation of a national Europeana aggregator based on the Museum Fund Register, which we expect from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, will open up a flow of opportunities for our museums and expand access to heritage for Ukrainians.”

A separate discussion block focused on 3D scanning of complex movable heritage objects, particularly items with shiny, transparent, or materially heterogeneous surfaces. These categories often pose the greatest challenges for high-quality digital recording, while at the same time being extremely important for museum collections.

Participants had the opportunity to see how new approaches to photogrammetry and AI-driven data processing open up new possibilities for more accurate digital representation of such objects.

Henk Alkemade from CARARE addressed the participants with a welcome speech. He presented the work carried out within the XRculture project and emphasised the importance of partnerships between Ukrainian and European institutions, the development of open approaches to working with cultural data, and the broader inclusion of Ukrainian heritage in Europe’s shared digital environment.

The main presentation was delivered by Yuliia Frolova, an architect, architecture researcher, and educational projects manager at the non-profit organisation Pixelated Realities.

She presented the opportunities that Europeana offers for Ukrainian heritage and explained how digital collections, open description standards, and inter-institutional cooperation can enhance the visibility of Ukrainian cultural materials at the European level.  Particular attention was paid to the practical aspects of integrating digital objects into an international context and to the role of open data in contemporary museum practice.

During the discussion, participants also addressed the openness of museum data and the readiness of institutions to cooperate with European platforms.  They considered whether museums should open up data about their collections, what advantages this provides for researchers, educational initiatives, and international partnerships, and which barriers most often arise at the initial stages of digitisation.  The participants noted that data openness can become not only a tool for increasing visibility but also an important part of the European integration process in the cultural sphere.

The event concluded with remarks by Olena Iliasova, Acting Director of the Odesa Municipal Museum Of Personal Collections Named after O. V. Bleschunov.  She spoke about the museum’s collections, shared the institution’s experience in digital preservation, and outlined how the museum secures support for scanning its collections and developing contemporary formats for working with heritage.  Her contribution added an important practical dimension to the conversation, demonstrating how strategic approaches to digitisation are implemented at the level of a specific museum institution.

Such events encourage professionals to grow, deepen their competences in digital transformation, and advance their skills in working with open data.  They provide new knowledge, practical tools, and ideas for further work with collections, while also creating opportunities to build partnerships and joint projects between Ukrainian and international institutions, particularly in the context of XRculture and broader European initiatives in the field of digital heritage.

Pixelated Realities PO is a consortium partner in XRculture, a project co‑funded by the European Commission under the Digital Europe Programme in Ukraine. The project’s beneficiary in Ukraine is the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

Сообщение Digital Heritage Digitisation and XR Solutions for Museums: event at the Odesa Municipal Museum Of Personal Collections Named after O. V. Bleschunov появились сначала на Pixelated Realities.

Pixelated Realities co-founders Iana Boitsova and Fedir Boitsov took part in last week’s Heritage at Risk Summer School 2026 in Ferrara, Italy, bringing Ukraine’s frontline experience in documenting cultural heritage in war zones to an international audience. The two-day programme, hosted at the University of Ferrara within the 3DBigDataSpace project, focused on 3D documentation methods for cultural heritage at risk in contexts ranging from natural disasters to armed conflict.

As part of the programme, Iana and Fedir delivered a talk titled “Documenting architectural heritage in war zones: experiences and lessons from Ukraine”. Drawing on several years of fieldwork, they presented approaches to the digital recording of destroyed and damaged architectural heritage in frontline and liberated regions of Ukraine. Their contribution showcased how photogrammetry, 3D laser scanning and geospatial analytics capturing is different in active warfare and attacks on civilians. Their message is clear: “obtaining high-precision data for emergency documentation on war-related destruction can support evidence-based strategies for future recovery and reconstruction”.

An important part of their presentation was dedicated to initiatives that rethink space and memory, including ongoing work on the Museum of Ukrainian Victory and other projects that connect digital heritage, education and research at an international level. Within the framework of the XRculture project, the team also shared recent results from scanning endangered museum collections in Ukraine and outlined their methodology for remote digitisation in high-risk contexts.

Reflecting on the experience, Iana Boitsova highlighted the importance of international collaboration and knowledge exchange:

“Taking part in this event reminds us that Ukraine is not alone in facing the loss of cultural heritage in times of crisis. Sharing our experience from war-affected regions and hearing how colleagues work with disasters and risks in other countries gave us both practical tools and a sense of solidarity. For us, the most valuable part was the open exchange with experts who are ready to share technologies, methods and standards to support institutions and communities in Ukraine right now, while also thinking together about how these data will guide future recovery.”

Participation of Pixelated Realities in initiatives such as the Heritage at Risk Summer School strengthens Ukraine’s presence in the European professional discussion on safeguarding cultural heritage during war. It also helps embed Ukrainian experience within broader international standards and practices for documenting cultural heritage at risk.
Pixelated Realities PO is a consortium partner in the XRculture project co-financed by the European Commission under the Digital Europe Programme. The project’s beneficiary in Ukraine is the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

Сообщение Between earthquake and the Middle East: Pixelated Realities shares Ukraine’s war-zone heritage documentation experience at Heritage at Risk Summer School 2026 появились сначала на Pixelated Realities.

Pixelated Realities PO is carrying out 3D digitisation of objects from the collection of the Odesa Municipal Museum Of Personal Collections Named After O. V. Bleschunov” as part of the XRculture project’s research.

The Municipal Institution “Odesa Municipal Museum Of Personal Collections Named After O. V. Bleschunov” is one of Odesa’s leading cultural institutions, regularly conducting research, securing funding for cultural projects, collaborating with European partners, and implementing digitisation initiatives since 2018.

Work is being carried out within the framework of the European research project XRculture — Research and Reuse of 3D Cultural Heritage through XR.

Research and reuse of 3D cultural heritage through XR

The project aims to explore new approaches to the digitisation of cultural heritage, develop innovative methods for working with 3D data, and design use cases for extended reality (XR) technologies in the cultural sector.
This research plays an important role in building digital archives and shaping contemporary approaches to the preservation, study, and presentation of cultural heritage in digital environments.
Thanks to innovative 3D digitisation and XR presentation technologies, Ukrainian museums will be able not only to ensure the long-term preservation of their collections, but also to make them accessible to wide audiences through virtual exhibitions, educational platforms, and scholarly publications.

Digitising the Bleschunov Museum collection

As part of the study, 3D models of 10 icons and 20 glass objects will be created.
These items were selected to test and refine scanning methods for materials with complex properties, including transparent, glossy, and combined surfaces. Such objects traditionally pose a significant challenge for 3D digitisation technologies, so the research focuses on developing more effective approaches to their digital capture.

In addition to photogrammetry and Gaussian splatting, the team is developing a new semi-automatic point-cloud cleaning method that minimises manual work and reduces post-processing time to around 20 minutes per object. For the most valuable objects, meshes are also being created, which will make it possible in the future to reproduce them via 3D printing and milling to develop inclusive exhibitions or carry out restoration processes.

Digitisation team

The project is produced by Fedir Boitsov.
Digitisation is carried out by Dmytro Dokunov and Andrii Tkalich.
Alik Kadum is developing the point-cloud cleaning algorithm together with Fedir, while Yuliia Frolova compiles and prepares annotations.

Historical and cultural significance

The icons and glass objects from the museum’s collection are part of Ukraine’s museum heritage, reflecting various aspects of history, art, and private collecting.

Presentation in the European digital space

The created 3D models, together with their metadata, will be published by Pixelated Realities PO on the European platform Europeana, ensuring open access to digital copies of cultural heritage for researchers, educational initiatives, and the general public.
The results of the research into methods for scanning transparent and complex surfaces will be presented in subsequent publications and analytical materials of the project.
Pixelated Realities is a partner in the XRсulture consortium, which is being implemented in Ukraine under the Digital Europe Programme. The project’s beneficiary in Ukraine is the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

Сообщение Pixelated Realities digitises the Collection of Icons and Glass objects from the Odesa Museum появились сначала на Pixelated Realities.

In the framework of the XRculture project, Pixelated Realities PO (Odesa, Ukraine), together with Inception Srl (Ferrara, Italy), has undertaken 3D digitisation of the Roman Glass collection at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Verona (Italy), applying advanced photogrammetry and Gaussian Splatting methods. This campaign has been led by Fedir Boitsov.

During the recent scanning session at the museum, the team captured seventy-seven unique pieces of ancient Roman glassware. The collection includes objects such as balsamari, anfore, bicchieri, piatti, bottiglie, olle, coperchi, and brocche (vases, balsamaria, pitchers, glasses and bottles of various shapes and sizes). These items date to approximately the I-III centuries AD and were found in Verona. Each piece stands out for its remarkable thinness, clarity, and range of hues — from bluish tones to subtle yellow shades, and imprinted or relief-decorated surfaces.

The research took place at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Verona, home to one of the region’s most representative collections of Roman glass. The primary goal of this work is to create precise 3D documentation of these artefacts to support their study, preservation, and digital presentation. 

Information about Gaussian Splatting and photogrammetry

Gaussian Splatting plays a key role in the project’s digitisation workflow, enabling the creation of highly realistic 3D representations by reconstructing radiance fields from high-resolution photographs. Through precise image capture and alignment, the team generates detailed Gaussian Splat models that capture both the geometric form and the material qualities of each artefact with exceptional visual fidelity. This method is particularly effective for documenting non-cooperative objects such as glass, as it allows the rendering of fine surface details, transparency, and reflections while maintaining a true-to-life appearance. The resulting Splat models serve as the foundation for producing immersive, real-time, viewable digital assets. 

For the capture process, the Pixelated Realities team developed a customized mobile rig equipped with a steady video light, ensuring even illumination of glass surfaces without persistent reflections in the resulting Splat rendering. To make this project happen, a custom solution was created based on the automatic turntable paired with highly transparent plexiglass, allowing for seamless full object captures without the need to rotate fragile objects. This approach minimises any potential damage to the precious artefact while producing the best possible splatting representations. For better and faster shooting, a video rail was attached vertically to a 2-meter stand, with a camera moved via a cord and counterweight system—enabling smooth, repeatable vertical motion for consistent multi-angle coverage.

This custom scanning setup, designed specifically for glass 3D capture and Gaussian Splatting, was tested directly in the museum environment and successfully captured detailed digital models of even the smallest objects.

The initiative is part of the XRculture project activities and forms part of a broader programme to digitise European cultural heritage that is difficult to scan using traditional methods, such as glass, gemstones and metal.

The project was carried out with the kind support and collaboration of Giovanna Falezza and Ada Gabucci, and in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Culture, Regional Directorate of National Museums of Veneto (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Verona, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Adria), the Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation (ICCD), and the Superintendence for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the provinces of Verona, Rovigo and Vicenza.

Pixelated Realities PO is a consortium partner in the XRCulture project co-financed by the European Commission under the Digital Europe Programme. The project’s beneficiary in Ukraine is the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

Сообщение 3D digitisation of Roman Glass Collection in Verona появились сначала на Pixelated Realities.

Pixelated Realities has joined Europeana, Europe’s main digital platform for cultural heritage, with its first 3D objects now publicly available online. This marks an important step toward enriching the representation of Ukrainian cultural heritage in major European digital collections.​

3D objects on Europeana

The first items published are 3D models from the Museum of Ukrainian Victory, created by the Pixelated Realities team within international collaborations. These models can already be explored online via Europeana at this link. 

The current selection on Europeana includes outdoor sculptures and heritage sites from Odesa, Kherson, Kharkiv and Sumy regions:

• Statue of Duke de Richelieu in Sand Bags and as an original version
• Lioness and Lion of the Odesa City Garden (sculptor Auguste Caїn)
• Taras Shevchenko monument, Odesa
• Taras Shevchenko Monument in Sand Bags, Kharkiv
• The Polovtsian warrior statues of Izium (Polovtsian babas), Kharkiv region
• The Northern Gate of Kherson fortress, Kherson
• Okhtyrka City Museum of Local Lore, Sumy region

These models are part of a wider collection of more than 30 objects documented for the Museum of Ukrainian Victory initiative in 2022 and early 2023 with the support of conflict reporters, who received training and then carried out emergency photogrammetry scanning in the field before the images were processed into 3D models in Odesa.

Contribution to Europe’s digital heritage

Europeana brings together over 50 million digital objects from around 3,500 cultural institutions across Europe, making cultural heritage openly accessible and preserved for future generations. By contributing high‑quality 3D content, Pixelated Realities helps ensure that stories and objects from Ukraine become an integral part of this shared European digital space.​

Powered by XRculture and 3D-4CH

The publication of these models on Europeana is part of the activities of the XRculture project and the 3D‑4CH consortium, which focus on advancing 3D digitisation and reuse of cultural heritage across Europe. Their technical frameworks and workflows support the aggregation, optimisation, and sharing of complex 3D data for open access platforms like Europeana.​

Future expansions and national aggregation for Ukraine

Starting next year, building on this pilot aggregation, Pixelated Realities PO will add around 40 more of its 3D models to Europeana through the same partnership and workflow. In parallel, an open call will be launched for Ukrainian organisations that already have CH 3D models and wish to share them via Europeana, expanding the visibility of Ukraine’s cultural heritage in European and global digital spaces.

This initiative is also an important step toward the future development of a national Europeana aggregator based on the Register of the Museum Fund of Ukraine, which will serve as the key national hub for connecting Ukrainian museum collections with European digital infrastructures.

Read more on XRculture

More details about this milestone and the broader collaboration are available in the news article on the XRculture website: “The first objects from Pixelated Realities are now available on Europeana — the first steps toward enriching the collections from Ukraine”.

Сообщение The first 3D objects from Pixelated Realities are now available on Europeana  появились сначала на Pixelated Realities.

Thanks to the latest Gaussian Splatting visualization, it was possible to digitize a museum jewelry collection that was almost impossible to scan just a few years ago.

In Odesa, with the support of the House of Europe, a six-month project for the digital preservation of a collection of Turkmen jewelry from the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, housed in the O. V. Bleshchunov Museum of Personal Collections, has been completed. The Pixelated Realities team, in partnership with the museum, created an online catalog of 32 unique items of traditional women’s clothing and ritual life: children’s amulets, sewn-on and pendant ritual jewelry, and obligatory everyday charms. Some of them went out of use at the beginning of the last century.

In the process of preparing the catalog, the museum objects were further researched and attributed, and terminology was developed. For each of them, an accompanying annotation in Ukrainian and English was prepared, containing the original name, information about tribal origin, material and technique of execution, as well as the purpose of the charm and its method of use. The achieved results will form the basis for creating a printed version of the catalog of Central Asian jewelry.

The collection covers a wide range of decorative forms and jewelry techniques: from tiny children’s amulets measuring 2 centimeters to mobile wedding decorations over 50 cm long with many pendants and decorative elements. In the traditional Turkmen costume, these items performed not only an aesthetic but also a sacred-protective function, being an important element of tribal rituals.

The items are made of silver, copper alloys, and decorated with carnelian, turquoise, and colored glass. The surface of the vast majority of the items is abundantly covered with engraved and openwork ornaments, and the larger decorations consist of numerous moving elements. Their decorativeness and fine execution technique create a special challenge for digitization—reflections on the metal, transparent inserts, moving pendants, and chains place high technical demands on the scanning process.

Availability and Scientific Significance

As a result, three-dimensional models were created in OBJ, FBX, and Gaussian Splat formats. The Odesa Museum of Private Collections of Bleschunov plans to upload the objects to the Register of the Museum Fund of Ukraine and Europeana, which will ensure accessibility for both researchers and the general public.

For scientific work, this opens up new possibilities: the objects are no longer limited to study only in museum halls but become available online—to students, restorers, and scientists around the world.

The digitization of unique Turkmen heritage enhances international collaboration—as the created 3D models will be used in the XRculture project, which aims to preserve and popularize European cultural heritage. In particular, the lessons learned and findings will form the basis of an XR scenario for endangered cultural heritage. Learn more in Ukrainian on our blog.

This project, among other things, will demonstrate the role of Ukrainian museums in the global trend where cultural heritage is preserved not only in physical but also in digital form, which corresponds to European and world standards of digital transformation of the cultural sector.

The methodology for digitizing shiny and transparent objects developed during this scanning will form the basis of training materials for 3D-4CH — the Online Digital Competence Center for Cultural Heritage. Learn more in Ukrainian on our blog.

The project was carried out with the support of the House of Europe program, which financed 19,000 euros for technical equipment and digitization.

Among the available models

Gulyaka (Turkmen: gülẏaka) 1930-40s. Gulyaka (from Turkmen – flower on the collar) is an everyday decoration for Turkmen women, and from the beginning of the 20th century, for girls as well. By origin, the gulyaka relates to the ancient solar cult. It is a symbol of benevolence and happiness. For centuries, it was a traditional amulet of the western and northern Yomut tribes, and in the first half of the 20th century, it spread throughout Turkmenistan.

Changa (Turkmen: çanga) (late 19th – early 20th century). Changa is a wedding and festive women’s decoration that serves as a clasp for the “chabyt” (çabyt) robe. It is sewn onto wide strips of fabric along with stamped “chapraz” (çapraz) plaques, which ascend to it in rows.

Bilezik (Turkmen: bilezik) (bracelet, 19th — early 20th century). Bilezik (from Turkmen – bracelet) is a traditional everyday amulet-decoration for women of all ages of all Turkmen tribes. The bracelets were always paired, one on each arm. They had from one to eight rows, the largest reaching the elbow and imitating armor bracers. Each pair was custom-made for a specific wrist size.

Gupba (Turkmen: gupba) (late 19th – early 20th century). Gupba (Turkmen: gupba – dome) is the first, most common, decoration of a Turkmen girl, which she wore until her wedding. It was sewn as a finial on the takhya (tahýa) cap. It has the shape of a small dome with a tube for owl, eagle-owl, or falcon feathers, which served as a charm. An empty tube meant that the girl was betrothed.

Appasy (Turkmen: appasy) 1930-40s. Appasy are amulet-decorations in the form of drop-shaped plaques, used on special festive days by representatives of all Turkmen tribes. The plates were sewn onto the traditional keteni (keteni) dress separately from each other according to a special scale-like pattern.

Button from a coin (late 19th – early 20th century). The button is made from an Iranian 50 dinar coin of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1831 – 1896), which was minted by Iran and Austria in the period 1876 – 1888.

Tumar (Turkmen: tumar) amulet-pendant, late 19th – early 20th century). Tumar/tumor (from Turkmen – amulet) is a case for storing spells, magical herbs, and enchanted natural materials. With the advent of Islam, a rolled-up piece of paper with sayings from the Quran began to be placed inside. The tumar is one of the first charms of a child, and later it was used regardless of age.

Children’s amulet (late 19th — early 20th century). The amulet was made from a 1 tenga coin of Khorezm, which was minted in 1888 during the reign of Mohammad Rahim-khan II (1864-1910).

View the full catalog.

Сообщение In Odesa, jewelry masterpieces of Turkmen heritage from the 19th and 20th centuries have been digitized появились сначала на Pixelated Realities.

The non-governmental organization Pixelated Realities is launching a joint project with the European consortium XRCulture, which aims to enrich the European Common Culture Cloud for Heritage (ECCCH) through high-quality 3D models. Among its objectives, the project focuses on preserving Ukraine’s cultural heritage in the context of the war.

The Pixelated Realities team is responsible for digitizing and updating approximately 100 movable cultural heritage objects from Ukraine, which will be integrated into the Register of the Museum Fund of Ukraine, the Europeana platform, and the European Cultural Heritage Data Space. Additionally, an XR scenario is being developed for museums housing heritage objects under threat due to military actions.

“XRCulture will allow us to deepen our expertise and share knowledge on scanning techniques for shiny and transparent objects, such as dishes, jewellery, and metal sculptures. This will enable museums across Ukraine to digitize movable heritage at an international standard. Integrating these models and metadata into the ECCCH will open up new opportunities to promote Ukrainian heritage globally and engage a wider audience in its study and support,” – said Iana Boitsova, COO of Pixelated Realities NPO.

As part of the project, a web viewer for 3D models is being implemented, which will be available to Ukrainian cultural institutions. The Museum Fund Register will also be integrated into the XR scenario.

XRCulture is funded by the European Union’s “Digital Europe” program and is being implemented by an international consortium of leading organizations from Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Ukraine. The project runs from February 2025 to July 2026.

The project will be implemented by the consortium below:

1. Inception – Italy – Coordinator
2. Fondazione Bruno Kessler – Italy
3. Stichting Europeana – The Netherlands
4. IN2 Digital Innovations Gmbh – Germany
5. Arctur Racunalniski Inzeniring – Slovenia
6. Rdf Ood Ar Di Ef – Bulgaria
7. Pixelated Realities PO – Ukraine
8. Universita Politecnica Delle Marche – Italy
9. Ministero Della Cultura – Italy
10. Talent Anonymos Etairia Pliroforikis – Greece

Additional Information

Pixelated Realities NGO, founded in Odesa in 2016, is dedicated to the development of digital heritage preservation in Ukraine and Europe.

Сообщение Pixelated Realities became a partner in the XRCulture consortium появились сначала на Pixelated Realities.