Fondazione Carla Fendi presents Ecce Robot at Festival dei 2Mondi

The Fondazione Carla Fendi, led by President Maria Teresa Venturini Fendi, has unveiled a program centered on artificial intelligence and robotics at the Festival dei 2Mondi in Spoleto. The centerpiece is the show Ecce Robot, directed by Quirino Conti, scheduled for June 30 at the Teatro Caio Melisso Spazio Carla Fendi. The evening will feature readings, discussions, and videos. Guest of honor is Jaron Lanier, a pioneer of virtual reality and author of You Are Not a Gadget and Dawn of the New Everything. Actresses Valeria Golino and Valentina Cervi will read Isaac Asimov's story Sogni di Robot about a dreaming robot named ELvex. Two videos will be screened: Automatica by Nigel Stanford, showing robotic arms playing musical instruments, and Ecce Robot by Gabriele Gianni, a short film on AI's societal impact. The eighth edition of the Premio Carla Fendi, a €30,000 prize for research, will be awarded to two women in robotics: Cecilia Laschi, Professor of Bioengineering at the Istituto di BioRobotica of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa, and Barbara Mazzolai, Director of the Center for Micro-BioRobotics at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia di Pontedera. On June 30, an installation titled Neural Mirror by the Roman studio Ultravioletto will open at the ex Chiesa della Manna d'Oro, running until July 14. The artwork uses AI algorithms to create a digital alter ego of the viewer based on demographic, physical, and emotional data.