Life-sized, virtual Dali now welcomes museum guests

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) - He may be known for his surrealist paintings but Salvador Dali was always at the forefront of technology, experimenting and trying new things.

The folks at the Dali Museum chose to keep that legacy going.

A new exhibit called “Dali Lives” opens this weekend that lets visitors appreciate Dali’s work while talking to Dali, himself.

The old saying goes, you have to know the artist to truly understand and appreciate the art, so the museum is using artificial intelligence to bring Salvador Dali into the viewing experience.

“It’s critical, of course, to show the original works, but people want to be engaged further,” explained the museum’s director of marketing, Kathy Grief.

An interactive, life-sized screen allows Dali to welcome visitors as they arrive at the museum and then educate them about his work.

He’ll even pose for selfies.

Grief said it took an amazing amount of attention to detail to make sure the experience is authentic.

Dali always joked that he spoke four languages, none of them very well, so finding a voice-over actor in Barcelona was one of the hardest parts.

Programmers and artists studied Dali, from looking at archival footage and reading his writings, to create his likeness.

The Dali Museum is trying to come up with the money for a $38 million expansion where they hope this type of technology will guarantee one of the 20th Century’s greatest artist lives on.