“What we can get from art is a sense of resilience. When we look at the resources in the world today, perhaps the most precious and rare is empathy.”
Jonah Hinebaugh | The Crow’s Nest
By Seth Payan
Eight guest speakers. Six minutes each.
The second annual State of Science event was hosted by the St. Petersburg Innovation District at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital on Sept. 24. The event highlighted the technological advances in the community.
Hank Hine, the executive director of The Dalí Museum as well as the co-director of the Dalí’s Innovation Lab, leads the museum’s initiatives in exhibitions, education, and overall experience.
In his presentation, Hine introduced the relatively new augmented reality technology that was first implemented in June, which brought Salvador Dalí — and his art — to life.
“What we can get from art is a sense of resilience,” Hine said. “When we look at the resources in the world today, perhaps the most precious and rare is empathy. “
Hine went on to share an introduction video that showcased the computer recreation of Dalí. The video showed examples of the new exhibits, approximately 6-foot-tall monitors that featured a portrayal of a full-figure Dalí talking to anyone accessing the exhibit.
The video shows the process of training the artificial intelligence, using old footage of Dalí to gather different angles of his face and features, focusing on how every detail of his face moved. The curators at the Dalí have compiled 45 minutes of footage and 125 interactive videos.
There are only three of these monitors for now: one at the entrance of the museum, one in the main collection, and one at the exit that has Dalí comically taking a selfie with the visitors using the display. Visitors can then have their selfies sent to them through text.
“This technology allows people to imagine for a moment that there is such a thing as immortality,” Hine said in the video. “What that adds is a sense of emotion. If they can empathize with this man as a human being, then they can relate to the work much more directly.”
