From 15 to 17 November 2024, the final event of the digital exhibition RAISE The Future took place at the iconic MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts, one of the main Italian museums dedicated to contemporary art, designed by architect Zaha Hadid.
From 28 September to 1 December, RAISE The Future offers, as part of the ROMA FOTOGRAFIA – FUTURE, a series of digital images co-created with AI and inspired by the projects and research activities underway within the RAISE ecosystem.
A unique and innovative way to disseminate the scenarios of use of technologies, the new digital services, the innovations of RAISE. In four periods, 52 images co-created by the CNR with the RAISE Communication team (Spoke 5) using the artificial intelligence tool Midjourney were created and presented in six of the most prestigious museums in Rome and at Fiumicino Airport.
In the Corner space, in front of the main entrance of the museum, all 52 digital images were exhibited, on the themes of the smart and inclusive city, environmental care with eco-robotics, personalized and assisted healthcare with technology and the smart port. In addition, the Communication team created an ad hoc video with CNR-ITD, to present the “backstage” of the co-creation of images with AI tools, showing its potential, but also the fundamental contribution of human imagination and creativity. The space was set up with the scenography of the four main themes of RAISE and researchers and technologists took turns over three days to present some of the activities underway within RAISE and some of the results achieved with practical demonstrations.
Marco Faimali, director of CNR-IAS, coordinator of RAISE Spoke 3, welcomed the schools on the first day of the event, with a presentation aimed at showing how, starting from the photographic scenarios, important results have already been achieved, documented with the support of short videos.
The event attracted 1346 people, with a peak in attendance on Sunday morning (over 200 in the first two hours of opening), who greatly appreciated the images created for RAISE The Future, some of which were also available as printed postcards. The numerous visitors, of various ages, were also actively involved in the demonstrations by RAISE researchers and were able to directly ask questions about the activities presented.
In particular, visitors were able to try out wearable sensors, on seats or even placed inside a jar of spreadable cream (to measure the muscle strength of those who open it) and learn about some of the activities underway in the field of intelligent environments applied to personalized health (Spoke 2). Visitors were able to touch with their hands the tools that allow citizens to take samples, even by boat or diving (“citizen science”, ETT, Spoke 3), see the barnacles “live” and learn how they are studied by the people of RAISE, with the support of images analyzed with artificial intelligence algorithms, in environmental monitoring activities (Spoke 3), understand how even a seismograph can be used to protect the coasts from extreme events (early warning, Spoke 3) and be informed about innovative solutions for wifi networks and sensors used in the field of eco-robotics (WSense, Spoke 3). Some issues related to the safety and management of port logistics were also explored, thanks to demos on the use of drones to identify radioactive materials on ships arriving in ports. The company AiTek presented solutions dedicated to the world of port logistics, based on advanced AI techniques that make gate in/gate out procedures at port terminals and logistics hubs safer and more efficient (Spoke 4).
The public was also able to see the contents of what was presented at the Festival della Scienza inside the RAISE Cube: 12 3D models of RAISE, narrated in an engaging way by two humanoid robots, namely Pepper and R1.
Maria Cristina Valeri, president of the Roma Fotografia association, which organized ROMA FOTOGRAFIA – FUTURE, expressed great satisfaction for the success of the event at the MAXXI, hoping for a continuation of the collaboration with RAISE for other communication and public engagement activities.
The photos of the digital exhibition RAISE The Future will be exhibited until December 1, 2024 in Rome, in the six selected museums and at Fiumicino airport. The catalog can be consulted online.
Special thanks to ETT for the setup and support in the presentation of the projects.
