Meta, Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera, and EssilorLuxottica Expand Access to Art Through AI Glasses

Today, Meta, Pinacoteca di Brera and EssilorLuxottica are proud to launch “Sensing Art – Discovering Masterpieces Beyond What Meets the Eye.” This pilot aims to explore how AI glasses can make art more accessible for people who are blind or with low vision – in collaboration with the some of Italy’s leading sight loss charities – the Associazione Nazionale Subvedenti (ANS), the Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti (UICI), and the Fondazione Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano .

In one of the first projects of its kind in the world, Pinacoteca di Brera will use AI glasses developed by Meta and EssilorLuxottica to enhance the experience for blind and visually impaired people. Over one million people in Italy are blind or visually impaired, and art and culture is one of the places where accessibility can be a challenge. AI glasses give people who are blind or low vision access to transformative AI technology that can help with everyday tasks like reading text, identifying objects and accessing information about the world around them. At Meta we believe the future is for everyone, which is why we wanted to bring together this partnership.

The AI glasses have been integrated with the museum’s existing Grande Brera app, which includes an audio tour guide, developed by ANS for blind and low vision visitors. The tour uses the DescriVedendo method which translates an artwork’s shapes, composition and visual details into spoken words.

When a visitor stands in front of one of eight selected artworks on the itinerary as part of this pilot, they can activate artwork recognition directly from the glasses and listen to the corresponding audio description through the open-ear speakers built into the frames. The open-ear speakers help the visitor stay fully aware of their surroundings and means they can engage more naturally with people around them.

The itinerary is completed by short orientation tracks between one work and the next.

Visitors can also choose to utilize additional tools available through the AI glasses: