Emerald Circuit Artifact Preservation and Monitoring Solutions: From Exhibit to Blockchain

Understanding the Problem:

Museum artifact preservation is the management of ancient or delicate historical artifacts and art pieces. Museums practicing artifact preservation must keep their artifacts under specific conditions for the public to observe and for experts to study. Smart monitoring of each level of a museum’s value chain is of utmost importance to maintaining the integrity and value of the often-times fragile artifacts. Emerald Circuit offers museum managers a method of collecting real-time information on exhibit and transport conditions to ensure secure, tamper-proof artifact management.

“Awareness grows among the museum management professionals as to new ways of boosting revenues by relying more and more on technology. A new generation of technology-proficient museum professionals gradually replaces old cadre and this is a profound shift and a game changer in the very traditional museum industry.”
- MarketAnalysis

Artifact monitoring is at present a costly and time-consuming process, costing museums millions of dollars each year. When it comes to transporting artifacts, museums often have to spend lavishly on specialized transportation companies, or else send their own members along for quality assurance. In parallel, monitoring exhibit and artifact conditions is labor-intensive, relying heavily on the expensive work of specialized teams of experts. Compounding this issue is the fact that museum inventory data is often measured non-continuously, leaving gaps in the curatorial history of individual artifacts. As a result, artifact management is often a museum’s most inefficient, problematic, and costly operation.

“As a result, monitoring and controlling the museum’s ambient conditions is the most important task to prolong the lifetime of the museum contents” -IoT Monitoring of Museums

Emerald Circuit: 21st Century Solutions for Museum Product Security

Emerald Circuit’s network of intelligent objects can monitor integrated humidity and temperature within exhibits which, networked with one another, provide alerts to museum curators in real-time. The biggest threat to safe artifact storage is moisture. Too much humidity will damage artworks made of organic materials by fostering the growth of mildew and other microbial growth, threatening irreplaceable artifacts that tell the story of human cultural development. Temperature is another variable that must be controlled to sustain the integrity of museum holdings, since many paints and adhesives will melt or crack if stored in an environment with fluctuating temperature. For this reason, climate has to be controlled at every stage, including short-term storage.

Dynamically, Museums can also benefit from secure transportation through Emerald Circuit smart containers, crates, and pallets. When an artifact is put on loan or sold to another museum, stakeholders can track the real-time progress and security of their artifacts through smart objects equipped with anti-tampering and environmental data sensors. Museums will also have access to an encrypted chain of blockchain data containing a record of the object’s handling. Any disturbances in climate or container security will trigger instant, secure alerts at the moment of infraction.

Finally, when it comes to the private preservation and management of artifacts (off of display), museums are able to utilize the smart container for keeping objects under monitored conditions in real-time. Museums outfitted with Emerald Circuit products and software can use this real-time environmental data to trigger autonomous fail-safes that will reduce human error, save on labor and security costs, and maximize profits by ensuring product safety.

Primary Value Provided:

Museums carry the responsibility of safekeeping humanity’s most cherished artifacts. Whether a museum is housing neolithic stone tools or impressionist masterpieces, the primary function of the institution is securing its artifacts for posterity. Emerald Circuit offers a fully encyrpted, integrated system that offers artifact security from environmental hazards, anti-tampering sensors to protect artifacts from the public and bad actors, and increased efficiency and management for museum curators. Museums that take inventory security seriously are more fit for attracting shows and exhibits that involve the movement of artifacts from one place to another. Digitalizing the artifact protection process leads to better preservation of artifacts, and in turn helps museums build a reputation for security and professionalism.

With Emerald Circuit, a safe, secure, and real-time system can be applied to modern museums for the next 100 years of artefact preservation.