Pinacoteca di Brera Launches Smart Glasses Accessibility Project with Meta and EssilorLuxottica
Since October 13, the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan has been hosting Sensing Art – Capolavori oltre lo sguardo, an initiative designed to assist blind and visually impaired patrons through the use of smart glasses. This project involves collaboration between Meta, the Pinacoteca di Brera, EssilorLuxottica, and organizations such as ANS and UICI, with backing from Alessandra Locatelli, Italy's Minister for Disabilities. Featured are eight paintings, including masterpieces by Mantegna, Tintoretto, and Caravaggio. Each piece provides three audio segments: a description, an analysis, and a biography, accessible through Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses. The initiative aims to improve cultural accessibility for the 18.6% of Italy's population with visual impairments while allowing Meta and EssilorLuxottica to experiment with wearable technology.
Key facts
- The project Sensing Art – Capolavori oltre lo sguardo launched on October 13 at the Pinacoteca di Brera.
- It is a collaboration between Meta, Pinacoteca di Brera and EssilorLuxottica, with ANS, UICI and Fondazione Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano.
- Eight paintings are included, by Mantegna, Tintoretto, Piero della Francesca, Raffaello, Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, Giacomo Ceruti and Hayez.
- Three audio contents per artwork: morphological description, historical-artistic analysis, and artist biography.
- Materials use the DescriVedendo method and are accessible via Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses integrated with the Grande Brera app.
- Features include artwork recognition, open-ear audio, Meta AI voice assistant, and Be My Eyes video assistance.
- The project received support from Alessandra Locatelli, Italy's Minister for Disabilities.
- According to promoters, 18.6% of Italy's population has moderate or severe visual limitations.
Entities
Artists
- Caravaggio
- Raffaello Sanzio
- Andrea Mantegna
- Francesco Hayez
- Tintoretto
- Piero della Francesca
- Annibale Carracci
- Giacomo Ceruti
- Pitocchetto
- Alessandra Locatelli
Institutions
- Pinacoteca di Brera
- Meta
- EssilorLuxottica
- Associazione Nazionale Subvedenti
- ANS
- Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti
- UICI
- Fondazione Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano
- Ray-Ban
- Be My Eyes
- Ray-Ban Meta
Locations
- Milan
- Italy
- Milano
- Italia