Four young New Zealanders are developing what they call interactive portrait technology to enhance the experience of visitors to art galleries and museums.
Jesse Armstrong, Kaveinga Lisati, Jordan Tupuola-Fa’alogo and Andrea Fua teamed up to see what they could do to help exhibits come alive through artificial intelligence technology.
Their start-up has recently been recognized by Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand’s national museum.
The young people are developing two-way communication technology that utilizes both facial and speech recognition based on artificial intelligence.
The group, all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, struggled to find a suitable name for the company they were creating. After considering many possibilities they settled on Vaka Interactiv. Jesse explained that Vaka means “a navigator or boat that historically was the means of connecting people and cultures.”
As a young man, born and raised in South Auckland and of both Maori and European ancestry, Jesse is grateful for his cultural heritage and is excited to be involved in something that will connect people to their culture through interactive technology.
He has taken temporary leave from his Brigham Young University (BYU) studies in business management to pursue this opportunity.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints places a strong emphasis on education and self-reliance.
Watch a short video on Mormons and education.