AI empowers culture and museum sector

The culture and museum sector is seeing accelerating application of artificial intelligence, focusing on various fields such as museum guidance, immersive exhibitions, as well as the identification, protection, and restoration of cultural relics, said industry experts on Monday at a matchmaking meeting in Shanghai.

The city has been ramping up efforts in innovation in the sector in recent years. In 2018, the Shanghai Museum established the nation's first comprehensive data-based digital management platform, and in 2021, the Shanghai History Museum launched the city's first digital twin museum system, significantly improving its digital governance capabilities.

Actually, a number of immersive exhibitions at diverse museums across Shanghai have already utilized advanced technologies, bringing ancient Chinese civilization back to life while shaping new cultural experiences for visitors.

Working with Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime, a Fourier humanoid robot was demonstrated at the meeting to offer audiences a guided tour at the Shanghai History Museum. Xinke Animation Co Ltd set up an immersive space with virtual reality on site to take visitors on an expedition into the mysterious Xixia Imperial Tombs. BimoAI also showcased an interactive terminal named "BimoAI Camera" at the meeting, which allows visitors at museums and tourist spots to get customized AIGC photos and newspapers instantly.

"Artificial intelligence has not only enhanced the interactivity and engagement of the audience experience, but also optimized the management of cultural institutions and cultural relic protection. Museums are also evolving from traditional exhibition spaces into vibrant interactive venues, and AI is becoming a 'super translator' for telling the stories of Shanghai and China," Xiang Yihai, deputy director-general of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, said at the meeting.

Several cooperative projects were signed during the event to further promote the application scenarios of AI in the cultural and museum sector. Among them, the Shanghai Museum will work with BesTV to develop a digital twin museum, and the Shanghai History Museum will work with four technology companies to deepen exploration on sectors such as spatial scanning, data collection and modeling, digital copyrights management, and intelligent guided tours.

At the meeting, Shanghai Jiao Tong University also launched the construction of a research center to optimize the protection of cultural heritage architectures. With AI technologies, the center will focus on key areas such as the diagnosis of cultural heritage architecture defects, risk prediction, and protection measures.

"We see huge potential and promising prospects of the cultural tourism market in China. For instance, the market demand for our BimoAI Camera is growing well in Shanghai, and we are in talks with about 100 museums and cultural tourism spots in China about potential collaborations. I am confident that AI application in this sector will continue to grow," Eric Tang, founder and CEO of BimoAI, said.

Editor：Lotus