Can AI help bring visitors closer to your heritage?
Sounds like science fiction, but we’re running a real experiment.
Together with our partners across Europe, we’ve spent the last few years shaping stories that bring cultural heritage to life. More recently, we’ve been exploring a new angle – storytelling that blends human emotion with a spark of AI.
The goal? Make stories feel closer, more personal, and ultimately, inspire visits.
That’s how our AI storytelling experiment began.
The idea is simple:
AI trailer → deeper story → visit to your heritage site
We started with a powerful, tragic story quietly hidden in the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa, Italy – the story of Italino Iacomelli.
A story of innocence, sudden tragedy, and a memory craved in stone.
We wrote a new, emotionally-driven version of his story, this time told through the eyes of a digital character that steps into Italino’s final moments and shares what it felt like to be there.
The result is something intimate and immediate. A different kind of connection.
We then created a short trailer based on that narrative. A kind of cinematic teaser that pulls people in, and invites them to go deeper.
Why AI trailers?
Because people feel before they think.
AI trailers create an emotional spark: curiosity, empathy, and even a sense of mystery. That’s much harder to trigger with a plain text.
A well-crafted trailer turns a forgotten name into someone you want to know. And somewhere you want to go.
What's our goal?
To trigger real visits.
To bring more people to your heritage.
We use storytelling as a bridge, from screen to site.
Our trailers don’t just inform or entertain. They’re designed to move people to act, to get curious, to read more, and ultimately, to visit your cemetery, your stories, your history.
It’s not just content. It’s a call to presence
Why focus on emotion?
Because emotion moves people more than information.
We remember what we feel.
By using emotion-first storytelling, we create stronger personal connections. The kind that make people want to learn more and essentially learn by moving.
Will it work?
We believe so, but it’s still an open question.
We’re experimenting, learning, adjusting.
But each trailer , each story, each spark of interest is a step toward something greater:
People visiting heritage sites, because they were moved by a digital moment.
Yes, it’s still about humans
Behind every story is a team of human writers, researchers, editors, and creators.
The AI is just a tool – the final polish – the extra layer that helps bring vision to life.
It doesn’t make the story.
We do.
And always will.
But when used with care, AI can help create something meaningful. Something that makes the past feel present, and the story feel like it belongs to someone real.
And now, we’d love for you to experience it.
Let it move you. Let it bring you closer to the place where it happened.
And maybe, one day, you’ll walk through Staglieno yourself,
stand before Italino’s statue,
and feel the story in the stillness.
Read Italino’s full story or watch the trailer, and take a step closer to where it all happened.
