Multimodal UI for Video Retrieval at the Swiss Federal Archives

The Swiss Federal Archives (SFA) is responsible for the archiving of the administrative records of the federal authorities, in particular the government, the parliament and the administration. Access to and the consultation of records by researchers and the public is a cornerstone of its legal mandate. In order to meet the current and future access requirements, the SFA is pursuing a strategy of consistent digital transformation aimed at facilitating access to archival information for users. The advent of digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionised methods and tools in this context. For several years, the SFA has been combining AI methods and their application to historical sources, such as the use of Automated Handwritten Text Recognition (AHTR) on the website Minutes of the Federal Council (1848-1972). In 2022, the SFA decided to implement Archipanion, a service provided by 4eyes and implemented on top of vitrivr, a content-based multimedia information retrieval system, to improve access to its digital film collection “Filmwochenschau (1940-1975)”. Formerly indexed using standard methods without direct content exploitation, the collection is now easily searchable through AI-driven, content-based processing. This technological advancement provides both users and scholars with unprecedented access to over 1,651 editions, facilitating research and exploration anytime and anywhere.