AerariumChain
Provides a SaaS solution to support museums from preservation to crowdfunding through NFTs.
AerariumChain is the initiative, starting from Italy to create a quality high-resolution 3D scan of each famous art, sculpture, and so on and create fractional NFT to bring value to museums and accumulate funds to preserve our most valuable art for the future. It is a complete Saas solution to support museums and art owners from monitoring to funding through NFTs. It has active contact with more than forty museums in Italy, Spain, and England. Huge work has already been done with 3D scans, they pay much attention to quality, doing a few scans of each artwork and using AI to improve gaps and differences.
DANILO REA
Founder and CEO, AerariumChain
Danilo obtained a master's degree in automation engineering in 2005, and subsequently worked as a technician and project manager for a multinational group in various countries until 2014. It was at this point that he co-founded Werea srl with Maurizio. The startup's first project was SweetHive.com, a cloud-based collaboration platform that served as the foundation for multiple verticals. In 2018, with the help of Giorgio, a PhD in archaeology, the AerariumChain vertical was launched and quickly became the startup's flagship product.
- Technology is a powerful tool and it plays an increasingly important role in art protection. Could you emphasize the innovative solutions that AerariumChain offers?
- AerariumChain's proposal is to make technology useful in art in several ways. The first way is supporting museums in monitoring the conservative status of their artworks. Our accurate 3D scans (up to 0.05 mm), taken non-invasively and within minutes, provide precise and detailed information about the artwork. Each 3D scan is notarised on the blockchain, and when the 3D of an artwork is uploaded for the first time we create the artwork fingerprint, that we call Unique Virtual Image (UVI). Then, the next 3D scans done periodically, or when some event occurs, are associated to the fingerprint. Identification algorithms detects the differences between different 3D scans of the same artwork to detect problems.
In addition, our model claims to help museums to create a fundraising from the value of the artworks themselves.
This procedure is also used to document the state of conservation of the artwork when it arrives at an exhibition, thus contributing to extremely complete and objective condition reports. We are carrying out this service for the exhibitions of several Italian museums and it is highly appreciated by the restorers.
Then, we are helping museums to leverage on the hyper-realistic 3D assets we are generating to collect funds and support their mission.
This is possible by creating fractionalised NFTs from the UVI of the artworks - we call them NFTMicro - that the museum can sell. Users that buy NFTMicro can experience the 3D file of the artwork. This closes the circle in which our technology helps museums combat the degradation of artworks and raise funds to invest in their own needs.
In addition, our model claims to help museums to create a fundraising from the value of the artworks themselves.
This procedure is also used to document the state of conservation of the artwork when it arrives at an exhibition, thus contributing to extremely complete and objective condition reports. We are carrying out this service for the exhibitions of several Italian museums and it is highly appreciated by the restorers.
Then, we are helping museums to leverage on the hyper-realistic 3D assets we are generating to collect funds and support their mission.
This is possible by creating fractionalised NFTs from the UVI of the artworks - we call them NFTMicro - that the museum can sell. Users that buy NFTMicro can experience the 3D file of the artwork. This closes the circle in which our technology helps museums combat the degradation of artworks and raise funds to invest in their own needs.
- Could you tell us a bit about your background and how you got the idea to create AerariumChain?
- AerariumChain was born from the idea of the three founders, one of whom, an archaeologist, set the challenge of creating a way in which technology could play an active role in safeguarding our heritage. There are many ways of documenting artworks in a technologically advanced way, but one step further was needed, that of 'exploiting' the value that artworks already have in themselves. By combining the artistic and technological skills of the founding members, AerariumChain has been developed.
- Could the technologies of today be used for perceiving pasts in alternate ways?
- More than to perceive, they can serve to bring it closer to new targets, to make it better understood and to remind us that what we are today is thanks to the past. In our case, our mission is trying to keep alive the art that has been around us for centuries, that teaches us and that has a very rich value. We want to help keep art alive by helping to combat its degradation and by creating funds from the artworks' own value, because with art we keep the history of humanity alive.
- How minting artworks on the blockchain can breathe new life into art?
- Linking digital art with blockchain is a way to protect it, make it unique, and ensure that it is taken into proper consideration. The blockchain ensures transparency, that is fundamental when you start from virtual images of physical artworks (not just digital art) and with an historical and artistic value to be protected.
- Can Web3 produce a more equitable ecosystem than Web2 in the sphere of cultural heritage preservation?
- Absolutely. Our artistic and cultural heritage must be protected both by its physical version and its digital "copies." Web3 is a way to ensure transactions that respect the rights of artworks and keep track of any movement. At the same time, web3 is the paradigm to experience these artworks in the digital space.
- What have you learned from the early steps of developing AerariumChain?
- Showing AerariumChain in museums and institutions, we have learned to look at art not only as an aesthetic resource, but also as a treasure that absolutely must be safeguarded so that it can continue to be experienced over time. We have learned how important it is to use qualified partners and to choose technologies not only for how innovative they are, but for the care they can take in respecting the materials we work with.
INTERESTING FACTS
AerariumChain had a special mention on Deloitte Art&Finance report 2022. It was a technical sponsor of an exhibition of Tiziano at Palazzo Reale of Milan 2022. Winner of WMF2022 (the biggest Italian innovation fair).
- What made you want to participate in Fuelarts x Tezos Accelerator 2023?
- We wanted to participate in Fuelarts x Tezos because it is a way to strengthen our position in the art and technology sector. It helps us to be known in the international market, especially in the USA, through a reference player.
The art space is a complex environment where relations and reputation is fundamental, and Fuearts and Tezos have their own network. Like all important partnerships and collaborations, this means for us increasing our networking opportunities, that can help accelerate our growth and increase the chances of success within the art world.
The art space is a complex environment where relations and reputation is fundamental, and Fuearts and Tezos have their own network. Like all important partnerships and collaborations, this means for us increasing our networking opportunities, that can help accelerate our growth and increase the chances of success within the art world.
- What exactly motivates you the most in acceleration?
- We are setting a new standard, so we need to speed up the adoption of our system. The daily results are pushing us to accelerate, never stopping in any moment. Fuelarts specialisation in the Artech world, with a deep knowledge in the NFT space and the market evolutions occurred in these last 3 years means access to skilled mentorship, funding and networking opportunities, exposure to potential customers within their nextwork.
