Read the interview with Annalisa Mombelli and her winning proposal: Emotion Modeling for Personalized Avatars Telepresence in Heritage Interaction (EMPATHI)
Annalisa Mombelli and RE:LAB, EMOJ, UNIVPM
Annalisa Mombelli is a R&D project manager at RE:LAB, focusing her research in Humanities and Technologies, exploring how innovation, interaction design, and emotional engagement can reshape cultural and educational experiences. For RE:LAB, an Italian company specialising in Human-Machine Interaction and user-centred design, she coordinates the EMPATHI project alongside the Italian partners: EMOJ, an AI company developing emotion recognition systems, and Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM), a research university with strong expertise in immersive and affective computing. This consortium is committed to building innovative and inclusive solutions that enhance interaction, empathy, and engagement in cultural heritage contexts.
Can you give a brief overview of your winning proposal?
What are its key objectives and innovative aspects?
EMPATHI enhances SPIRIT’s Real-Time Avatar Animation by integrating real-time emotional recognition. Using a 3D avatar of Renaissance poet Ludovico Ariosto, the project creates an emotionally adaptive storytelling experience at the “Furiose Interazioni” exhibit in Reggio Emilia. Key innovations include a CNN-based emotion recognition module, real-time bidirectional feedback between the avatar and visitors, and personalised storytelling. The avatar dynamically adapts to users’ emotional cues, fostering empathy and engagement in cultural heritage education.
What motivated you to apply for the SPIRIT Open Call?
We were inspired by the opportunity to extend the SPIRIT platform with novel features that enable more humanised interactions in virtual environments. The open call offered the ideal context to experiment with emotion-aware avatars in a real-world cultural setting, while aligning with our strategic goals of expanding immersive and affective technology applications beyond traditional HMI. It was also a chance to collaborate with a forward-looking ecosystem committed to XR innovation in Europe.
How do you envision this project making an impact?
EMPATHI aims to create a new experimental paradigm for digital cultural heritage by transforming passive museum visits into emotionally engaging adaptive experiences. It can enhance accessibility and inclusiveness and foster deeper understanding through emotional storytelling. The proposed modular design enables scalability across domains like education and tourism, contributing to SPIRIT’s ecosystem while positioning the consortium as an innovator in empathetic immersive tech.