Full House at HUN-REN SZTAKI During Night of Museums
HUN-REN SZTAKI took part in the Night of Museums on Saturday, June 21, 2025, with a packed house of visitors. Guests attended three different talks as part of the institute’s permanent hardware history exhibition and had the chance to try out vintage computers such as the GD 80 and the Primo—in action, with games.
Development engineer József Kovács gave a talk on the background of the GD 80, which turned 40 last year. He also demonstrated the machine live, which visitors were then invited to try. On the vector display, a radar screen simulation was running, along with a house-made port of Crossfire (originally an Apple II game from 1981). In addition, the Hungarian microcomputer Primo was also playable, running Ördögmotoros, a game that reimagines Return of the Jedi’s iconic speeder bike chase scene—in 8-bit. A Hungarian video summary of the demonstration is available below.
Next, Dr. Géza Haidegger, senior research fellow, gave a presentation on the most internationally significant developments in HUN-REN SZTAKI’s 60-year history. His talk covered the Dialog CNC, which revolutionized industrial manufacturing practices, the exhibited networking devices, and the pioneering work of Tamás Roska, including his research on the bionic eye and the CNN chip. Dr. Haidegger’s full, Hungarian presentation can also be viewed below.
Finally, development engineer László Kún spoke about the devices developed by HUN-REN SZTAKI during the 1970s and 1980s, many of which were widely used by domestic institutions at the time. He discussed special-purpose hardware innovations and early institutional terminals that predated the age of microcomputers.
HUN-REN SZTAKI has been participating in the Night of Museums since 2023. Photos from the event are available on the HUN-REN SZTAKI Facebook page. The institute’s next public opening will take place during Researchers’ Night in September.
The official mobile application of the Night of Museums, MUZEJ, is also developed by HUN-REN SZTAKI. This year, the app saw a record number of downloads.
