Open source tools and research from ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
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The ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe is a cultural institution founded in 1989 in Karlsruhe, Germany. It is one of the world's largest centers for media art, combining a museum, research institute, and production facility under one roof.
ZKM explores the intersection of art, science, and technology — preserving digital art, developing new forms of artistic expression, and researching the impact of media on society.
ZKM is publicly funded by the State of Baden-Württemberg and the City of Karlsruhe. We believe in Public Money, Public Code — software developed with public funds should be publicly available.
By open sourcing our tools, we:
- Share knowledge with the cultural and research community
- Enable other institutions to build on our work
- Ensure transparency in publicly funded development
- Contribute back to the open source ecosystem we rely on
Platforms: GitHub (public releases) | GitLab (development)
- AI & Machine Learning
- Exhibition Infrastructure
- Sensors & Hardware
- Audio & Spatialization
- Networking & Infrastructure
- Developer Tools
- Templates
Core libraries and applications for AI/ML in creative contexts.
| Project | Stars | Description |
|---|---|---|
| HandTracker | 6 | Hand tracking using ofxTensorFlow2. |
| language-identification | 41 | Spoken language detection using deep learning. |
| LanguageIdentifier | 1 | Language identification app (openFrameworks). |
| ofxTensorFlow2 | 119 | TensorFlow 2 wrapper for openFrameworks. |
| Styler | 6 | Neural style transfer for images, video, and camera. |
| YoloOSC | 22 | Real-time YOLO object detection with OSC output. |
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| Automatic Speech Recognition | Speech-to-text transcription API. |
| Detoxify REST API | Text toxicity detection API. |
| Stable Diffusion API | REST API for Stable Diffusion image generation. |
Tools for running exhibitions, managing displays, and visitor interaction.
| Project | Stars | Description |
|---|---|---|
| baton | 4 | UDP/WebSocket message relay. |
| exhibition-vm-controller | - | VM management for digital art conservation. |
| filterdns | - | Self-hosted DNS filtering with per-profile config. |
| filterdns-client | - | Desktop client for FilterDNS (Linux/macOS/Windows). |
| museum-label | 2 | Auto-adaptive multilingual museum labels. |
| serial-button-osc | 3 | Physical button → OSC messages. |
| thoscy | 3 | Thingsboard to OSC relay. |
| wayback-cache-proxy | 1 | Caching Wayback Machine proxy for museum exhibitions. |
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| Generic Exhibition Platform | Reusable digital exhibition framework. |
| intelligent-things | IoT data system using MQTT. |
| skeeter | MQTT ↔ OSC bridge. |
Hardware interfaces and sensor processing tools.
| Project | Stars | Description |
|---|---|---|
| lidar | 7 | LIDAR processing tools for spatial detection. |
| SOMA-Junction | - | Junction box for SOMA lighting (hardware). |
| stingyraycontrol9000 | - | Cascadable LED driver for art installations (hardware). |
| tfluna | 3 | TF-Luna LIDAR sensor → OSC/UDP/Thingsboard. |
3D audio rendering and spatial sound tools.
| Project | Stars | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ZirkoniumSpatializationServer | 6 | Core Zirkonium 3D audio rendering in Pure Data. |
Network tools and infrastructure components.
| Project | Stars | Description |
|---|---|---|
| arklet | - | ARK identifier minter/binder/resolver. |
| prep-pi | - | Raspberry Pi offline web server. |
Utilities for macOS packaging, CI/CD, and development workflows.
| Project | Stars | Description |
|---|---|---|
| js-Gerstner-wave | 1 | Interactive Gerstner wave simulation. |
| mac-dist-helper | 10 | macOS app packaging, code signing, and notarization. |
| mac-dist-helper-examples | 2 | Example projects for mac-dist-helper. |
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| web-interface | HTML/Flask web UI template. |
| p5js-template | p5.js browser project template. |
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| bias-workshop | Workshop materials (2021). |
| cppflow | Fork: TensorFlow C++ (use upstream). |
| NextcloudVideo_Converter | Nextcloud video converter (2021). |
| nextcloud-printer | Nextcloud printing app (2019). |
| mapping-open-source | Research: Open source in museums. |
This repository includes templates for consistent documentation across ZKM projects.
For new repositories:
# Copy README template
cp templates/README.md your-repo/README.md
# Copy license (choose one)
cp templates/LICENSE-MIT your-repo/LICENSE
# or
cp templates/LICENSE-BSD your-repo/LICENSE
# Copy contribution guidelines
cp templates/CONTRIBUTING.md your-repo/CONTRIBUTING.mdFor the "Funded by" section (place at bottom of README):
## Funded by
<p align="center">
<a href="https://zkm.de">
<picture>
<source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zkmkarlsruhe/zkm-open-source/main/assets/zkm-logo-light.svg">
<source media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)" srcset="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zkmkarlsruhe/zkm-open-source/main/assets/zkm-logo.svg">
<img alt="ZKM" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zkmkarlsruhe/zkm-open-source/main/assets/zkm-logo.svg" width="120">
</picture>
</a>
</p>| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
| templates/README.md | Standard README for repos |
| templates/README-deprecated.md | Notice for repos moved to GitHub |
| templates/CONTRIBUTING.md | Contribution guidelines |
| templates/LICENSE-MIT | MIT License |
| templates/LICENSE-BSD | BSD Simplified License |
| templates/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ | Issue templates |
<!-- ZKM Badge -->
[](https://zkm.de)
<!-- License Badges -->
[](LICENSE)
[](LICENSE)
[](LICENSE)See docs/badges.md for complete badge reference including logo variants.
Copyright (c) 2026 ZKM | Karlsruhe
| Project Type | License |
|---|---|
| Default / New Projects | MIT |
| openFrameworks Addons | BSD Simplified |
| Standalone Applications | GPL-3.0 |
| Hardware Designs | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
- Website: zkm.de
- Wikipedia: ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
- Instagram: @zkmkarlsruhe
- YouTube: ZKMkarlsruhe
- LinkedIn: ZKM
- Facebook: zkmkarlsruhe