THE SECOND FLOOR
The 'virtual' model railway on the second floor of the museum
The HZERO museum experience doesn’t end with the visit to the model railway—it continues on the second floor, where cinematic special effects and cutting-edge technology create an even more immersive exploration of HZERO’s layout.
On the ground floor, visitors can marvel at the playful and architectural masterpiece in all its tangible reality. Upstairs, they can become part of the action, engaging with the model railway’s settings through two gaming stations equipped with VR headsets and screens, as well as a green screen area where they can take a photo within the model railway’s landscapes.
WITH THE GREEN SCREEN AND GAMING STATIONS, THE TWO IDENTITIES OF THE SPACE MERGE—THE MEMORY OF THE FORMER ARISTON CINEMA AND THE PLAYFUL ESSENCE OF THE MUSEUM.
With the VR headsets, explore the city and uncover hidden elements
Wearing the VR headsets, visitors shrink to the size of miniature pedestrians, wandering through the narrow streets of the city among market stalls, flower vendors, bars, and porcelain shops—all while remaining comfortably seated.
With virtual reality you can dive into the digital twin of the model railway transformed into a video game. This digital version of the landscape was created by digital artist Stefano Concutelli, who scanned the H0 scale (1:87) model, then modeled and animated it using various 3D software programs.
To make the virtual exploration even more engaging, visitors are challenged to find three hidden elements in the city: the Fiorentina flag, the flower vendor, and the balloon seller.
Take a souvenir photo with the green screen featuring a scene from the model railway
The green screen technique is one of the most widely used special effects in the film industry. Named for its distinctive bright green color, it allows any scenario to replace the colored background, which magically disappears, creating the illusion that the actors on screen are in an imaginary elsewhere. When the landscape and people overlap, the special effect comes to life on the screen.
At the museum’s green screen, visitors can simulate interactions with scenes from the model railway and capture a souvenir photo of their journey through HZERO.
The result is the union of the two identities of the space: the memory of the former Ariston cinema and the playful essence of the museum.
Il risultato sarà l’unione delle due anime del luogo: il ricordo dell’ex cinema Ariston e la dimensione ludica del museo.
Watch the maintenance team at work in the Workshop
In addition to the gaming stations and green screen area, the second floor of the HZERO museum offers a live view of our team of model makers at work in the Workshop. Here, trains are cleaned, inspected, and tested before being sent speeding across the model railway. This is also where some of our maintenance team hand-paint new miniatures to be added to the layout or craft incredibly realistic landscape details.
In the same room as the Workshop, visitors can also find a test track where they can operate a few trains on the rails—further immersing themselves in the wonder of model railways.
Via Libera! it’s HZERO's permanent workshop.
The second floor of the museum has been enriched with a new space called Via Libera! (Green Light!), a place for passage, pause, waiting, and collective play, dedicated to memory and imagination.
Beyond the vibrant colorful curtain, visitors enter a space where all the museum’s educational activities take place. Here, every visitor can find inspiration in words printed on the walls, encouraging reflection on their experiences in HZERO’s imaginary world. They can also leave a colorful post-it note to share their emotions and impressions from their journey through HZERO.
