MIT(MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology)hasrecentlydevelopedaninnovativeartificialintelligencerestorationtechnologythatmakestherestorationofartworksmoreefficientandprecise.Theuniquenessofthistechnologyliesinitsuseofadetachablemasktoachievereversiblerestorationforoilpaintings,greatlyreducingthetimeandcostrequiredfortraditionalrestoration.
TheinspirationforthistechnologycamefromAlexKachkine,amechanicalengineeringgraduatestudentwhoispassionateaboutrestoringpaintingswithtraditionalhand-paintingmethods.However,henoticedthatmanyartpiecesingalleriescouldnotberestoredduetohighcostsandlongdurations.Therefore,hedecidedtofindamoreefficientsolution.Withthisnewmethod,restorationworkthatpreviouslytookweeks,months,orevenyearscannowbecompletedinjustafewhours.
Duringthedevelopmentprocess,Kachkinechoseaseverelydamaged15th-centuryoilpaintingastheexperimentalsubject.First,heremovedtheexcesspaintfrompreviousrestorations.Then,heperformedhigh-resolutionscansonthepainting.Next,usingAIalgorithms,heanalyzedtheimagetogenerateadigitalmodelthatcloselyresembledtheoriginalappearance.Subsequently,hecreateda"damagemap"markingthelocationswherepigmentshadflakedoff,cracked,orfaded,andprovidedcolorinformationfortheareasneedingtouch-ups.
Usingahigh-precisioninkjetprinter,thedamagemapwastransformedintoatwo-layermaskprintedonanultra-thintransparentpolymerfilm.Onelayerisresponsibleforprecisecoloring,whiletheotherservesasawhitebasetoenhancecolorsaturation.Kachkinestatedthatcompletecolorrestorationrequiressimultaneouslyprintingbothwhiteandcoloredinks.Finally,themaskwaspreciselyalignedwiththecanvasandfixedwithathinlayerofclearvarnish.
Notably,boththemaskandvarnishcanbesafelyremovedwithoutcausinganydamagetotheoriginalartwork.Atthesametime,thisdigitalmapwillserveasapermanentrecordforfuturerestorationwork.Inthisexperiment,Kachkineused57,314colorstorepair5,612damages,completingthetaskinthreeandahalfhours.Iftraditionalmanualmethodswereused,therestorationwouldtake66timeslonger.
Kachkinehopesthatthistechnologywillhelpmoreburiedartworksseethelightofdayandshineonceagain.
KeyPoints:
🎨MITdevelopsanewtechnologyusingAItorestorefamouspaintingsinjustthreeandahalfhours.
⏳Thistechnologyreducesrestorationtimefrommonthstohours,significantlyimprovingefficiency.
🖼️Theuseofdetachablemasksanddigitalmapsensuresasafeandreversiblerestorationprocess,protectingtheoriginalartwork.
