Accenture Collaborates with the Museum of Art & Photography to Apply Artificial Intelligence to Art Appreciation

Develops India's first AI-enabled conversational digital persona to promote art

BANGALORE, India, Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), one of India's largest private art museums, have collaborated to create an immersive digital experience to engage art enthusiasts. 

Accenture Labs, through its Tech4Good initiative, combined advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) with human-centered design to create India's first conversational digital persona to help visitors have a more engaging experience. Visitors to the museum will be able to have a lifelike conversation with the persona.

Discussing the collaboration, Abhishek Poddar, founder-trustee, Museum of Art & Photography said, "One of our objectives is to create a museum-going culture that engages younger generations, as we have much to learn from our shared histories. A great way for museums to accomplish this is to harness technology to create engaging interactions that enable the user to learn something new and have fun in the process. We are confident that the collaboration between Accenture and MAP will create memorable experiences."

Rekha M. Menon, chairperson and senior managing director, Accenture in India, added: "The future needs creative thinkers-people who can reimagine and reinvent. Creative arts foster plurality of thought, helping people approach real-world problems in a more holistic manner. We are excited to team with a cultural institution like MAP and use our market-leading digital capabilities to broaden the appeal of visual arts among today's digital native youth."

To create the digital persona, Accenture Labs used techniques such as face superimposition and speech synthesis, which are based on deep learning and generative AI models. Natural language understanding, natural language processing and emotion detection technologies help ensure the conversation between the user and the persona is lifelike, and enable the digital persona to be as responsive, expressive, proactive and adaptive as a real person would be. 

The Museum of Art and Photography will launch a digital version of the museum in December 2020 and its flagship physical space in 2021.

About MAP

The Museum of Art and Photography's (MAP) mission is to take art and culture to the heart of the community making it accessible to diverse audiences. It aims to achieve this exhibiting, interpreting and preserving India's rich artistic heritage, motivated by the belief that museums should play a positive role in society. It is the custodian of a growing collection of over 18,000 artworks, predominantly from the subcontinent and dating from the 10th century to the present.

About Accenture 

Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services-all powered by the world's largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 506,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com. 

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