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Life the Italian way: robots sculpt like Michelangelo

HICOMM

01/11/2023


It's unlikely that you haven't fallen into the whirlpool of Italian inspiration: besides nature and delicious food, this European country is steeped in beauty and art. For centuries, analysts have been trying to figure out what is the reason why Italian works achieve such perfectionism, which has influenced and definitely influenced world culture.
And while they search for answers, Italian start-up company Robotor has invented a machine that is almost as good at sculpting marble masterpieces as its Renaissance-era predecessors. Speaking to CBS News, Robotor founder Giacomo Masari confidently states that the result is 99% close to the original. However, he admits that "the human touch makes all the difference. That one percent is so important."
Discussions around AI soon defacing art are becoming increasingly popular, but Masari is of the opinion that rather than "robot technology stealing the work of humans, it simply enhances it".

Robotor's newest sculptor robot, dubbed 1L, with its height of almost 4 meters, is a zinc alloy giant that can work tirelessly at any time of the day. The company calls its technology revolutionary because the material can now be transformed no matter how complex the conditions. Their claim, "We are entering a new era of sculpture that no longer consists of broken stones, chisels and dust, but of scans, point clouds and designs," almost sounds like a slogan.
In a counter-argument, Lorenzo Calcinay - sculptor at Florence Cathedral - states that he hopes "that a certain know-how and knowledge will always remain, although the further we go forward, the harder it will be to preserve them".

(Text translated from Bulgarian)

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