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Microsoft has partnered with the Catholic Church in a project to digitally recreate and explore one of the world’s most iconic monuments, the St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican has revealed. The AI recreation helps in managing visitor flows, allows access to virtual tours, and also identifies conservation issues. It comes in time for the Catholic church’s Holy Year Jubilee celebrations to be held in 2025 and it comes only once in 25 years. Microsoft tech recreated replicas of the church Dubbed Project La Basilica di San Pietro, Basilica was done in collaboration with a French startup, Iconem specializing in digital preservation. Microsoft used drones, lasers, and cameras in an empty basilica for four weeks to take 400,000 high-resolution digital photographs of the monument as part of the recreation. According to the Vatican, the AI-generated monument will be online alongside two new on-site exhibits in order to give visitors both real and virtual an interactive experience. “It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been engaged in.” Brad Smith, Microsoft president. The Microsoft AI project of the Basilica was for the first time able to identify structural vulnerabilities that are not able to be identified by the naked eye in the St Peter’s Basilica. The AI has recreated the exact digital replica of the exterior and interior of the famous Basilica including all of its mosaics, frescoes, and sculptures. Using the said technology, the project was also able to identify and reveal hidden or lost mosaic tiles and uncover an ornate ceiling. “As technology like AI drives us into the future, it can also play an important role in preserving our past,” added Smith. The Catholic warms up to AI tech The development marks another significant signal of the Catholic church’s…

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Filed under: News - @ November 11, 2024 9:26 pm