Project case study
A typewriter that signs a banknote
Visitors type their name on a real vintage typewriter, and a neural network turns it into a handwritten signature on a historic treasury note.
- Client
- Museum of the Ministry of Finance of Russia
- Completed
The challenge
Let visitors touch the history of the treasury with their own hands and leave with a personal souvenir rather than a leaflet.
What Awake! delivered
A real typewriter, converted together with the hardware partner, works as a USB keyboard. The visitor types a name — special keys even print icon characters — and picks one of four signature characters on the touch screen. A neural network generates a handwritten signature on a transparent background, and it is placed on a replica of a historic chervonets note with an animated reveal and a QR code to download. We tested local models and chose a cloud model because it handles Cyrillic handwriting and style far better; moderation and generation quality are switched from the admin panel.
Outcome
The zone was installed in the museum in August 2026.
Technologies and methods
Vintage typewriter converted to a USB keyboard, Unity, generative AI handwriting, content moderation, QR download