As art museums mushroom in China, Hong Kong finds cheaper way to protect exhibits from the elements

To better protect valuable works of art or historic artefacts, Hong Kong researchers have developed a real-time environmental monitoring system for museums that is smaller and cheaper than existing technologies.

Scientists from the Faculty of Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong developed the wireless sensor system with input from curators at public museums in the city. 

The technology is debuting at an exhibition at the Hong Kong Science Museum after successful test runs at the Hong Kong Film Archive and the Hong Kong Museum of History.

“A device like this can be deployed easily, dismounted easily and moved [with the exhibits] elsewhere easily,” said Professor Cheng Chun-hung.

Cheng, who lead research into the software at the university, said the device’s wireless design is unobtrusive and reduces the need for cabling in historic buildings.

The system, which can measure relative humidity, temperature, vibrations, light intensity and ultraviolet levels, is less than half the size of the British system currently in use in the museum. It is also a tenth of the price.