Microsoft Helps Vatican Recreate St. Peter’s Basilica Digitally

01Technology company Microsoft is working with the Roman Catholic Church to create a detailed digital version of St.

02Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

03The project aims to give people a new way to experience the famous building which sits in the Catholic Church's Spiritual and Administrative Center in Rome.

04Roman Catholic leaders recently joined Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, to present the new digital creation to the public.

05The official launch of the system has been set for December 1st.

06It will permit individuals to explore St.

07Peter's Basilica online and provide interactive experiences for all visitors to the Vatican.

08The effort involved drones flying around the empty basilica for four weeks to capture images of all parts of the building.

09The drones, equipped with many cameras and lasers, took more than 400,000 high-quality pictures.

10The process used artificial intelligence, AI methods, to create a complete 3D copy of the basilica.

11One goal of the project was to provide a way for anyone in the world to have the chance to visit the church and learn about its history.

12Microsoft Chief Smith told a press conference at Vatican City, the project represented one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind ever carried out.

13Cardinal Mauro Gambetti is the archpriest of St.

14Peter's Basilica.

15He praised the new technology at the press conference.

16Gambetti compared the highly detailed digital experience to looking up at a starry sky on a summer night.

17He added, The new tools act like a telescope or spaceship for better viewing.

18The project was launched ahead of the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee celebration.

19This marks a holy year at the Vatican when more than 30 million worshippers are expected to visit the basilica.

20This will be in addition to the 50,000 people who visit on a normal day.

21The basilica will celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2026.

22The Associated Press reported Pope Francis visited Smith and the project's development teams at the Vatican.

23He said the effort should help everyone feel welcome in this great house.

24The Pope added that the project was a way to recognize and continue to celebrate the Vatican's rich spiritual history.

25It is a gift and a task to care for it in both a spiritual and material sense, even through the latest technologies, he said.

26Pope Francis has warned that AI should only be used in ethical ways.

27In his World Message of Peace this year, he proposed an international treaty to control or regulate the technology.

28He argued that AI systems lack human values and could cause great harm.

29The digital system permits visitors to request entry times to the basilica.

30This could be a welcome change for visitors used to waiting in lines for hours to get into the basilica, which is one of the world's most visited buildings.

31The collected images have already identified structural damage and signs of deterioration.

32Experts said the technology can find such problems much faster and more effectively than human workers.

33Vatican officials plan to use the images to continually identify areas needing repairs.

34Smith did not say how much Microsoft had invested in the project, but he said the idea came after Pope Francis urged technology companies in 2018 to come together to use AI for cultural purposes.

35Smith noted his company had also completed similar AI projects at Mosa-Michel in France and for ancient Olympia in Greece.

36I'm Brian Lynn.