Talking to Mona Lisa & Michaelangelo

SEOUL, South Korea, June 13, 2008 — -- Computer graphics, holograms and 3-D animation technology bring 62 world-renowned masterpieces of Western art to life in Seoul's Alive Gallery. The new project is a clever combination of art history, technology and imaginative — but fact-based — stories, offering a compelling multimedia cultural and entertainment experience.

A who's who of art across the ages — such as Michelangelo, Van Gogh and Mondrian — interact with visitors to explain the creative origins of each piece and the circumstances under which each was made. In the process the artists talk, wave, wink or even scuffle among themselves over who is more popular.

The Mona Lisa answers questions from visitors, such as "Why don't you have any eyebrows?" She answers: "When I was alive, a woman who had big forehead was a beauty … so most women had taken off their eyebrows for beauty."

As she winks and waves at two visiting girls, their mothers giggle. "It's amazing. She speaks!" they exclaim. Mona Lisa's lip movements, facial expression, and body language are in perfect sync with her words. The details are depicted using a DirectX 9 software engine that employs real-time virtual 3-D characters.

"We call it edutainment," said Ted Kim, director of Alive Gallery, who came up with the idea. "We want everyone of all ages to be able to enjoy the experience of understanding art. These masterpieces are not only for sophisticated art majors, you know."

The target market is students — from kindergarten to high school — with each program designed to match the understanding level. Kim says the current art education system is "too boring" and "textual" for modern kids exposed to a high-tech multi-media environment.

The solution was to engage visitors with virtually anything that modern technology could offer: cinematic studios, digitally powered theatrical pop-up stories, state-of-the-art audio-visual rooms, hologram short movies, 3-D animation and digital games.