'AI Demonstration City' Gwangju Opens Interactive Fairy Tale Experience Center in City Hall Lobby

AI Experience Center for Infants and Young Children at City Hall in April and May
Story Flow Changes in Real Time Based on Choices
Demonstration of Metaverse-Based Storytelling Technology

A space has been set up in the first-floor lobby of Gwangju City Hall where children can directly experience artificial intelligence technology. This is an interactive experience in which a single choice made by the participant immediately changes the flow of the story on the screen.

On April 2, Gwangju City announced that it will operate the 'AI Demonstration and Experience Center' in the first-floor lobby of City Hall, allowing infants and young children to directly experience AI-based content for two months starting this month.

"Demonstration City" Gwangju City Operates "AI Fairy Tale Experience Center." Provided by Gwangju City

This experience center was created so that citizens can experience the core achievements of the 'Science and Technology Project Opening the Region's Future,' which Gwangju City has been promoting since 2022, in their daily lives. This project is supported by the Research and Development Special Zone Foundation under the Ministry of Science and ICT and aims to establish an autonomous innovation system and create new engines for regional growth by supporting key technology planning and research and development (R&D).

Through this project, Gwangju City has secured core technologies such as AI-based metaverse technology, content creation tools, and the construction of virtual studios, and has been working to commercialize them.

The experience center is characterized by its use of interactive storytelling technology, rather than simple exhibition viewing. When children choose the direction of the fairy tale, the outcome is instantly visualized as a real-time three-dimensional (3D) video. The experience process consists of understanding the story, making a choice, and then checking the result, allowing participants to naturally learn how artificial intelligence works.

The experience content is based on Froebel fairy tales. An AI-powered content creation solution has been implemented, which analyzes fairy tale illustrations and video data, reconstructs the story, and automatically generates short video clips. Technology that extracts text from illustrations to understand the flow of events and automatically divides the narrative structure according to the story arc has also been utilized.

In addition, by selecting key scenes from the story and generating trailer-style videos, this project introduces a new storytelling technology that can be applied in both education and the broader content industry.

The experience is operated with teams of around 10 people each, and each session takes about 5 to 10 minutes. Anyone can participate freely from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

Gwangju City is opening City Hall as a technology demonstration space for citizens, providing opportunities to naturally learn how AI works, thereby strengthening its foundation as an "AI-centered city."

Son Dooyoung, head of the AI Industry Division, stated, "This experience center is focused on direct participation and hands-on experience, moving beyond simply viewing and understanding technology," adding, "We aim to make AI technology accessible and engaging for all citizens."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.