millytexas   Challenge Posted Nov.10th, 2021, viewed 115 times

Augmented reality project brings Olympics birthplace to life

The program at ancient Olympia harnesses augmented reality technology that designers say has the potential to transform education, business and entertainment. Critics warn it will extend the invasive power of U.S. tech giants.

The culture ministry helped Microsoft map and build virtual representations at Olympia, a site used for nearly a thousand years to host the games in ancient Greece that served as the inspiration for the modern Olympics.

“It's a milestone ... that helped us bring technology and culture and history together so we can preserve it,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a video message at the launch event.

Users can tour the site remotely or in person with an online presentation and an augmented-like mobile app at Olympia, seeing quotesjin a virtual re-creation of temples and competition areas as they walk through the ruins. At the Olympic Museum in Athens, they can use Microsoft's mixed-reality HoloLens headsets that overlay visual information on top of what the viewer sees.

School students use a mobile app at the ancient site of Olympia, southwestern Greece, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. Microsoft launched a digital restoration project at the ancient birthplace of the Olympic Games in southern Greece Wednesday to provide visitors an immersive recreation of temples and competition areas as they walk through the ruins. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)