After having defeated the beasts of Hell, climbed Mount Purgatory and tasted Paradise, the well-known writer embraces the technology of the moment in the form of a futuristic “virtual twin”. This happens precisely in the time frame in which experts believe that came to light in Florence in 1265, between 21 May and 21 June.
The role of “Digital Dante”? Being a real bridge between past, present and future, providing precise and accurate answers to adults and children about his life, his work par excellence, namely the Divine Comedy and much more. Behind the creation of this virtual twin is QuestIT, a Sienese tech company specialized in the creation of technologies based on the use of AI.
“He who has not felt passion cannot understand”: Dante Alighieri’s words define in the best way a concept that closely affects people of all ages and, at the same time, every operational and professional sector. Dante’s passion was writing and, in particular, his work par excellence, the Divine Comedy, within which he had the opportunity to discover unreal worlds and live unique experiences of their kind. Now, however, the great poet not only embraces the present, but takes a great leap towards the future. In fact, thanks to artificial intelligence, he becomes a latest generation avatar. The goal of this innovation? Being a real bridge between the different historical eras: going into more detail, the so-called “Digital Dante”, inserted within special systems such as websites or interactive totems, will be able to respond clearly and precisely to related questions and curiosities to its existence and to the Divine Comedy, but also to general knowledge questions, thus creating an immersive and, at the same time, fun learning experience for users and enthusiasts of all ages. Behind the creation of this avatar there is a made in Italy tech company originally from Siena, namely QuestIT.
“To accomplish this feat we started from the analysis of the death mask of the great poet, faithfully recreating his appearance – states Ernesto Di Iorio, CEO of QuestIT – We then dressed the avatar so that it exactly reflected the classical iconography associated with Dante. Thanks to this technology, structured in collaboration with the Department of Information Engineering and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Siena, adults and children alike can live an unforgettable experience and, at the same time, dispel doubts and cultural perplexities of all types.”
To date, the virtual human can be used both for training purposes, within universities, schools or from home to encourage e-learning, or from a tourist perspective as virtual guides in museums. And that’s not all, because the “artificial poet” himself is enriched by a vertical Large Language Model that allows him to emulate 100%, complete with Latinisms and popular expressions of the time, the tone of voice of the iconic Italian poet. In this way «Digital Dante» offers an unprecedented immersive experience in the world of culture and artificial intelligence. “The avatar is able to understand the questions of individual interlocutors and respond accordingly because he has been trained through the Algho conversational platform.
The latter allows the virtual human, firstly, to extrapolate and process data and words from works of the caliber of the Divine Comedy and, secondly, to speak and dialogue in a precise and accurate manner. Our creation, therefore, is a valid example of how the worlds of culture and education can approach AI and exploit its potential in the best possible way. To date, according to the latest report structured by the Polytechnic of Milan, only 3% of Italian museums and theaters use avatars or virtual assistants: a change of gear is needed and we are convinced that Digital Dante will only be the first of a long series of ‘innovations capable of pushing the Bel Paese, together with its companies and institutions, towards a new era in which the so-called new technologies will be the fuels that will power all the main operating sectors, including culture’.