They cloned St. Peter’s Basilica! | EUROtoday
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LThe Vatican is in flip changing to… synthetic intelligence. The highest authorities of the Holy See celebrated with nice fanfare, on November 11, the inauguration of a digital clone of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Created by the American group Microsoft and the French start-up Iconem, this avatar of probably the most emblematic monument in Christianity is a technological feat.
Do we nonetheless have to current the place? Covering half of the 40 hectares of the papal micro-state, the basilica, 219 meters lengthy and 154 meters vast, is thought all through the world. Built between 1506 and 1626 by a number of generations of architects, from Bramante to Bernini, this church is missed by a dome which was for a very long time the most important on this planet. Its inside areas are embellished to match the status of the place.
ALSO READ They cloned the Eiffel Tower! Every yr greater than 20 million vacationers and pilgrims go to this monument the place crucial occasions of the Catholic liturgical calendar happen. “As a jubilee begins on December 24 which is expected to see more than 30 million people flock to the Vatican, the creation of a digital twin of the basilica will allow an even greater number of believers to visit what constitutes the heart of Christianity,” explains Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, who performed a key position on this technological mission.
Decided two years in the past, the creation of this “digital double” was achieved in two levels. First, 5 workers of the Iconem firm carried out surveys of the constructing. Over 45 days, they took some 400,000 photographs of the location, from each angle; drones permitting them particularly to succeed in the very best components of the constructing.
A technological feat
These photographs, accompanied by photogrammetric readings taken by laser, have been then processed by Microsoft groups. “By using what we call Gaussian functions (“Gaussian splatting”, in English), we have been capable of restore, from the diffusion of sunshine, the reduction of the partitions,” explains Shawn Wright, engineer in command of the division often known as “emerging technologies” at Microsoft.
It is the creation of a brand new algorithm which made it potential to present quantity and depth to the decor, from easy two-dimensional photographs. The creation of this clone of the monument listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site wouldn’t have been potential with out this progressive expertise, often known as “neural radiance fields” (additionally referred to as NeRF), which was nonetheless unknown a yr in the past. A booming discipline which right this moment makes it potential to generate complicated three-dimensional scenes, appropriate for video video games, from easy flat photos.
The amount of information processed to create this twin of the basilica is commensurate with the gigantism of the monument. “The high definition images used represent 22 petabytes of data, the equivalent of 5 million DVDs! If we stacked these disks on top of each other, it would constitute a column almost 6 kilometers high,” says Brad Smith, president of Microsoft.Disturbing realism
The result’s beautiful. “The virtual reconstruction of the interior and exterior of the basilica allows us to discover it in a new light,” declares Father Francesco Occhetta, coordinator of the mission, a primary draft of which was introduced to Pope Francis on November 10. “The level of detail is such that we were able to spot spider nests under the dome [laquelle culmine à 119 mètres de hauteur, NDLR] », jokes Cardinal Gambetti.
ALSO READ Amazing Egyptian adventures in virtual realityThe virtual.basalicasanpietro.va site, put online at the beginning of November, allows you to go down into the basement of the building to explore the ancient necropolis hidden there. It also allows the user to climb into the passageways which overlook the choir of the basilica. The technology also offers the possibility of passing through walls to measure the labyrinth of corridors and stairs that run behind the masonry. “Artificial intelligence thus pays tribute to the ingenuity of the authors of this very sophisticated Renaissance architectural project,” notes Alberto Capitanucci, engineer in command of the listed constructing.
Along the best way, the designers of this digital clone had a couple of surprises. “While taking our photos, we discovered dozens of details invisible to the naked eye: Michelangelo’s signature, hidden on a usually invisible part of one of the basilica’s emblematic statues [la fameuse Pietà, NDLR]. But also graffiti left by mischievous workers on the buttocks of the angels whose statues frame the canopy overlooking the great altar,” smiles Frenchwoman Andréa Louis who intently adopted the mission.
“This technology not only allows an exceptional visit to the site but above all offers the restorers of the monument a clear vision of its state of conservation,” continues Yves Ubelmann, founding father of Iconem. A French firm, created in 2013, which operates on quite a few threatened heritage websites world wide.
“Thanks to this project, we can monitor the cracks that have appeared on the vault or even identify the frescoes where small shards of mosaic are missing,” provides Franciscan Brother Enzo Fortunato, liable for communications on the basilica. “If Notre-Dame Cathedral had thus benefited from a digital double, its reconstruction would have been greatly facilitated,” factors out Brad Smith, who recollects that Microsoft’s AI For Good division created, in the identical spirit, a “digital avatar » from Mont-Saint-Michel in 2019. In either case, Microsoft did not charge anything. “These projects are part of a philanthropic approach,” insists Juan Lavista Ferres, vice-president of the American group.
New tour route within the basilica
During December, three movies created from the pictures thus collected might be broadcast in new areas open to the general public on the roofs of the basilica. These digital animations, co-produced by Microsoft, Iconem and the Lithuanian digital design studio Dadada, will enable us to see for the primary time very intently the mosaics masking the domes of the basilica.
ALSO READ Archaeology: this historian who talks about Rome’s previousA brief movie will even recreate the evolution of the location since Antiquity, enlightening guests on the precise historical past of the place. “The basilica was, in fact, built in place of the Roman stadium where Christian tradition reports that the Apostle Peter was sacrificed during the reign of Nero,” explains historian Pietro Zander. “It was to protect his tomb, which quickly became a place of pilgrimage, that Emperor Constantine had the first basilica built around 326. This building was replaced from 1506 by the current monument, on the orders of Pope Julius II” , he continues.
Rediscovery of the tomb of Saint-Pierre
During restoration work carried out in 1939, a Roman tomb was found within the crypt of the church, above the central altar. On a chunk of purple fresco, archaeologists famous the inscription: “Πέτρος ἔνι” (“Petros éni”) which may very well be translated as “Peter is right here. » A graffiti which attests, within the eyes of the Catholic Church, the presence on this place of the physique of the touring companion of Jesus Christ.
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“By offering as many people as possible information on the life of Saint Peter, thanks to these new technologies, we are part of the Pope’s desire to reconcile tradition and modernity, as the Holy Father expressed in 2020 during the call from Rome,” says Brother Enzo Fortunato. “Preserving our heritage, with integrity and respect, does not prevent us from living in this world using the best technology,” provides Franciscan Paolo Benanti, teacher-researcher on the pontifical college.
This digital double of Saint Peter’s Basilica will thus be discovered, at the start of 2025, on the Minecraft gaming platform… “We thus wish to offer young people who evolve in this playful universe a place of meditation and prayer in the middle of the tumult of the world” , concludes Mico Capasso to whom the Catholic Church entrusted the writing of the narrative a part of the mission. “Our goal was to reach a new audience,” he provides. Objective achieved.
https://www.lepoint.fr/high-tech-internet/ils-ont-clone-la-basilique-saint-pierre-12-11-2024-2575143_47.php