An virtual CGI chatbot version of Salvador Dalí will welcome visitors this spring at the Dalí museum in Florida. "When I die, I won't die completely."
See the YouTube trailer, which nearly crosses the uncanny valley.
"The museum drew on hundreds of archival sources to teach an algorithm the artist’s mannerisms and appearance. Next, the team recruited an actor to deliver various monologues, most of which draw on quotes attributed to Dalí himself but also feature an array of what the statement describes as 'dynamic present-day messages.'"
Read the article at Smithsonian online.
Thanks, Susan!
Interesting. This looks really good, and avoids the uncanny valley because the method used is not a fully CGI Dali. Taking a quick look on other articles about the Dali recreation on the web, it seems that a real actor was used, with some sort of facial modification added later. Apparently the "AI" aspect is the facial alteration added on top of the actor. A Very effective technique nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteNot bad! Quite convincing...
ReplyDeleteBut I have to add that "When I die, I won't die completely", while might have been used by Dali himself, is actually a quote from Horace. We Russians know it too well because we all learned the Pushkin's version of the Horace's Ode 3.30, which has this line :)
I was in St. Petersburg for the holidays last year, and visited the Dali museum (my second visit). A current exhibit is a trip through a Dali landscape, via VR goggles. The viewer self-directs through the scene, which incorporates many signature Dali elements. You can be at the top of a 200 ft sandstone sculpture, then at the feet of a towering, flaming-haired elephant. It was a memorable and immersive experience.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been to the Dali museum? His later, realistic paintings in his "nuclear mysticism" phase are staggering in their scope and detail, not to mention their size. I did not see this amazing and somewhat eerie video when I was there. I wonder what Salvador would make of it?