From art to technology: AI makes audiovisual content more accessible

Technology can help make culture more accessible without compromising its artistic value. This idea is the foundation of the collaboration between Il Gaviale and the Machine Translation Unit at Fondazione Bruno Kessler, developed as part of the European EDIH InnovAction project.

Il Gaviale, a research and production center dedicated to contemporary performance practices, has promoted artistic experimentation, training, and interdisciplinary research for years. The growing volume of its audiovisual content—including lectures, meetings, conferences, and performances—led to the need for a tool capable of generating subtitles quickly, accurately, and reliably while maintaining internal control over data and processes.

To meet this need, FBK developed an automatic subtitling system that processes audio content in both Italian and English, automatically generating transcripts in the original language and translations between the two languages. The solution is based on open-source models specifically adapted to Il Gaviale’s application domain, ensuring high performance even with specialized materials.

A system built around user needs

The project was developed in two phases. The first involved analyzing the audiovisual material provided by Il Gaviale and defining the optimal technological architecture for the system. This analysis made it possible to identify the most effective strategies for adapting artificial intelligence models to the specific characteristics of the organization’s content, achieving an overall level of quality consistent with the state of the art.

The research team—comprising Luisa Bentivogli, Matteo Negri, Mauro Cettolo, and Roldano Cattoni—then developed the subtitling system and its web interface, designed to be simple and intuitive. Users can upload a video, generate subtitles automatically, and view them synchronized with the audiovisual content. The system supports both the creation of subtitles in the original language and automatic translation between Italian and English, while also providing editing tools for manual review when needed.

Accessibility, efficiency, and content enhancement

The new platform will enable Il Gaviale to manage the subtitling process in-house, reducing production time and costs while ensuring the confidentiality of its materials. The result is audiovisual documentation that is easier to search and more accessible to an international audience, as well as practical support for the center’s educational and outreach activities.

The use of open-source technologies is also a strategic element of the project, enabling the development of a sustainable, reusable, and easily scalable solution over time.

InnovAction as a bridge between research and innovation

The project demonstrates how the research expertise developed by FBK can be translated into practical tools for the cultural and creative sectors. Through InnovAction, advanced natural language processing and machine translation technologies are transferred to real-world applications, helping improve the accessibility of digital content and support the digital transformation of organizations.

For Il Gaviale, this support represents a significant step forward in expanding its educational and outreach activities, providing an innovative solution that makes its wealth of knowledge and artistic productions more accessible, inclusive, and available to an even wider audience.