St Peters gets AI treatment with digital twin of famed basilica [Video]

Every nook and cranny of Saint Peter’s Basilica will soon be laid bare thanks to artificial intelligence and a trove of 400,000 photos of the celebrated Vatican monument, according to a project presented Monday.

Starting December 1, the curious will find a reconstruction of the evolution through the ages of the Catholic basilica, from the Roman era to today, on its website (https://www.basilicasanpietro.va/fr.html).

The site will also offer a virtual tour of the basilica that celebrates its 400th anniversary in 2026, with the possibility of exploring both the Vatican grottoes and the magnificent dome crowning the building.

Those wishing to visit in person will find exhibition rooms set up inside the basilica, allowing a full immersion in its history.

To carry out the project, the Vatican enlisted US tech giant Microsoft, which reconstructed even the most minute details of the basilica’s architecture, paintings and sculptures based on 400,000 photos taken …