We've launched qUIc, the cataloging tool with artificial intelligence

During the last two years, the Coeli and Nubilum teams have supported the digitization of the documentary collection of Teatre Lliure. The heritage collections of the Arxiu Lliure include photographs, videos of shows, interviews, programs, posters, press articles, objects, sound files, etc., from 1976 to the present. Given that its photographic collection is made up of +50,000 images with 120,000 faces, at Coeli, we have developed an experimental cataloging project with artificial intelligence systems to streamline documentation processes thanks to facial recognition through the qUIc tool. What is the qUIc? What are the results of this pioneering project?

“qUIc is the tool for cataloging the photographs that we keep at Teatre Lliure. In order to catalog them, we have designed a facial recognition pilot test. This artificial intelligence project has been complemented with natural intelligence”

Anabel de la Paz (Archive, Library and Heritage Manager at Teatre Lliure)

The name of the tool “qUIc” comes from the play on words between the famous board game ‘Who’s who’ combined with the acronym for User Interface (UI), merging the playful essence of cataloging with artificial intelligence with the aim of making all the staff at the institution participate in this documentary process.

The rhythm of cataloging photographic collections is growing exponentially. Generally, the facial recognition process consists of the following three phases: (i) facial detection, which generates a result of coordinates that frame the face, based on the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) standard; (ii) extraction of the vector that numerically represents this face; (iii) the comparative calculation of these vectors to determine the degree of similarity between the faces.

In terms of its operation, facial detection allows the cataloging process to be focused on the faces of the people that appear in the photographic background, while facial recognition algorithms suggest similar faces automatically to those previously selected. Thus, the user of quUIc can approach this process from different work strategies to catalog effectively: going through all the faces pending identification randomly or grouping them by show or by the similarity of the previously identified face.

All in all, the Arxiu Lliure was presented this week. It is a digital space that allows you to browse over +60,000 objects from Teatre Lliure’s documentary collection, which uses our software and qUIc. The aim of this “living platform”, as the director Juan Carlos Martel Bayod has called it, is to preserve and disseminate the artistic testimonies of this institution’s history. In this way, the Teatre Lliure becomes the first theater in Spain to have its archive digitalized.

In this line, the premiere of this project is only the starting signal for a space that will be constantly growing and updating data. So far, more than 28,000 faces have been cataloged thanks to the help of qUIc: cataloging with artificial intelligence hand in hand with the natural intelligence of the Teatre Lliure staff. From Coeli, we are very happy to offer the most innovative technological solutions to our clients to solve the challenges of the heritage sector.

Coeli is a software as a service (SaaS) that offers solutions for heritage collections for museums, archives, libraries, galleries, foundations, universities, etc. Our team works every day to offer a service of the highest technological quality. We are committed to every project because every collection is unique. If you want to keep up to date with us, sign up to our newsletter.