AI audio guide · Early access

Art speaks.

Your AI audio guide to the work in front of you. Press play — this is what forty seconds in front of a Roman face sounds like.

What happened to her hair?

Roman portrait bust, ca. 100–120 CE · The Met

0:00 / 0:44

Narrated by AI · reviewed by an editor Read the text

Text version of every story English & Russian on this site Early access

Marble bust of a woman with a plain band over the hair, draped garment, direct gaze; small ancient holes above the forehead.
Marble portrait bust of a woman, Roman, ca. 100–120 CEThe Met, Rogers Fund, 1914 · Open Access
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The same story, in text

Prefer reading? Every story has its words.

This is the narration you just heard — or didn’t, if you’d rather read. Nothing autoplays. The sources stay attached.

The detail

Look just above her forehead. Two small holes. They are ancient, and they once held a separate piece of marble: a tall crescent of curls, the hairpiece every fashionable woman wore in Rome around the year 110. It is gone. What’s left is the plain band underneath — the part no one was meant to see.

The record

The museum’s own note says she looks like the empress Plotina, Trajan’s wife. Not a portrait of the empress — a portrait in her style, the way people once copied a magazine cover. We don’t know her name.

The line to keep

A hairstyle can date a face to a decade. Hers has been missing for centuries.

Length
0:44 · 112 words
Source
The Met, object 248897 (Greek and Roman Art)
Narration
AI · reviewed by an editor
Shape
One detail, one record, one line to keep
Play this story · 0:44 Image credits
The Great Wave, Hokusai

Next story · 0:43

Where is the mountain?

The most famous wave in the world is a picture of something else.

Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa, ca. 1830–32 · The Met · Open Access

Listen · 0:43

How it works

Three steps. One story.

Point at the artwork
Looking for the artwork…
Possibly this one
Preparing the story…

Scan an artwork

Hold the phone steady. Works with paintings and sculptures in supported collections.

Scan

Looking…

Matching against the collection you’re in.

Cancel

Marble bust of a woman

Not sure? Choose another match.

That’s itOther

Marble bust of a woman

Writing a short story from the museum’s notes…

Cancel

Marble bust of a woman

Narrated by AI · text and sources below

Demo · no audio

Interface shown is a demonstration.

  1. 1

    Point your phone at the work.

    Open the camera in M4ART and frame the painting or sculpture. No QR codes, no wall numbers, nothing to type.

    Works with
    Paintings and sculptures in supported collections
    You don’t need
    A QR code, a wall number or the artist’s name
    On screen
    “Point at the artwork” — hold steady for a second
  2. 2

    It finds the work.

    M4ART matches what it sees against the collection you’re in. It’s built to say when it isn’t sure rather than guess.

    Matches against
    The collection you’re standing in, not the whole internet
    If it isn’t sure
    It shows the closest matches and lets you pick — or asks for another angle
    On screen
    “Possibly this one” with the museum’s own title
  3. 3

    Listen, or read.

    A short story starts when you press play. Every story has its text and its sources.

    Length
    About forty seconds — one detail, one question, one answer
    Written from
    The museum’s own records and published notes, reviewed by an editor
    Also there
    The full text, the sources, and Play only when you press it
    Hear the demo story · 0:44

Stories

Every work has a back side.

Six works from four museums make up the demo set: two stories you can hear, four you can read. All stories · Where it works.

Marble bust of a woman with a plain band over the hair, draped garment, direct gaze; small ancient holes above the forehead.

Listen · 0:44 · Roman portraits

What happened to her hair?

Two small holes above the forehead once held a separate marble hairpiece — the fashion of a decade, missing for centuries.

Roman, Marble portrait bust of a woman, ca. 100–120 CE · The Met · open access

Listen · 0:44
Woodblock print: a huge blue wave with claw-like foam curls over three boats; a small snow-capped Mount Fuji sits in the trough.

Listen · 0:43 · Japanese prints

Where is the mountain?

Look past the wave. In the trough, small and white, sits Mount Fuji — the subject of the whole series, hidden behind the sea.

Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave), ca. 1830–32 · The Met · open access

Listen · 0:43
Portrait of a pale young woman with tight blonde curls against a dark juniper bush and a blue landscape.

Read · Renaissance portraits

The painting with a back side.

Turn the panel over and there is a wreath of juniper, laurel and palm with a motto. Look closely at the front and you may find the artist’s fingerprint.

Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de’ Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478 · NGA · open access

Read the story
Marble group: a seated old man bites his fingers while four younger figures cling to his legs and body.

Read · 19th-century sculpture

A father who couldn’t.

Dante gave him a canto. Carpeaux gave him two tons of marble: a starving father biting his own hands while his children beg him to eat them instead — and he can’t.

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Ugolino and His Sons, 1865–67 · The Met · open access

Read the story
Pointillist park scene by a river: strolling and seated Parisians with parasols; in the foreground a woman in a bustle dress holds a small monkey on a leash.

Read · Paris, 1880s

Whose monkey is that?

Among the parasols and top hats, a woman on a leash walk with a monkey. Seurat never explained her.

Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884, 1884–86 · Art Institute of Chicago · open access

Read the story
Demo set
6 works · 4 museums
Rights
Open access or public domain — credits on every story
Audio
2 stories scripted · recordings to follow
Every story
Has its full text and its source

About the AI

Helpful — and honest about its limits.

The AI recognises the work, writes the narration and reads it aloud. Art and your visit stay at the centre.

  • Recognises the work in front of youWithin supported collections.
  • Writes a short storyFrom the museum’s own records and published notes.
  • Reads it aloudAnd shows the text and the sources.
  • Doesn’t guess attributionsWhen it isn’t sure, it says so.
  • Doesn’t invent factsEvery story is reviewed by an editor before it goes live.
  • Doesn’t promise every artworkCoverage is listed per collection.
Scan an artworkReady
Looking for the artwork…Searching
Possibly this one — choose another matchUncertain
Preparing the story…AI
Listen to the story · 0:44Ready
Couldn’t recognise it. Try another angleError

Questions

Good to know.

Which languages?
This site is in English and Russian. Languages inside the app will be listed here once confirmed.
Do I need to be in the museum?
To recognise a work, yes — the camera needs to see it. Saved stories can be listened to again anywhere.
Is there a text version?
Always. Every story has its full text, and that’s what a screen reader gets.
Where do the stories come from?
From the museum’s object records and published notes. The AI drafts the narration; an editor reviews it; the sources stay attached to the text.
What does it cost?
Not decided yet. We’ll say so here before launch.

Early access

Give the art a voice.

The app is on its way to the stores. Pick yours — the links go live at launch.

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