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A12 technology
Monday 9 october 2023
An app shows how ancient Greek sites

looked thousands of years ago. It's a

glimpse of future tech

A man holds up a tablet showing a digitally overlayed virtual reconstruction of the ancient
Parthenon temple, at the Acropolis Hill in Athens, Greece on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
By Derek Gatopoulos and appear back on the mon- tors from January through
Theodora tongas ument as archaeologists July was up 21.9% to 16.2
Associated Press believe they looked 2,500 million compared with a
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — years ago. year ago, according to
Tourists at the Acropolis this Other, less widely known the Bank of Greece. Rev-
holiday season can witness features also appear: enue was up just over 20%,
the resolution of one of the Many of the sculptures on to 10.3 billion euros ($10.8
world’s most heated de- the Acropolis were painted billion).
bates on cultural heritage. in striking colors. A statue The app, called “Chronos”
All they need is a smart- of goddess Athena in the after the mythological king
phone. main chamber of the Par- of the Titans and Greek
Visitors can now pinch and thenon also stood over a word for “time,” uses aug-
zoom their way around the shallow pool of water. mented reality to place
ancient Greek site, with The virtual restoration works the ancient impression of
a digital overlay showing anywhere and could spare the site onto the screen,
how it once looked. That some visitors the crowded matching the real-world
includes a collection of uphill walk and long wait to view as you walk around.
marble sculptures removed see the iconic monuments AR is reaching consumers
from the Parthenon more up close. It might also help after a long wait and is set
than 200 years ago that the country's campaign to to affect a huge range of
are now on display at the make Greek cities year- professional and leisure ac-
British Museum in London. round destinations. tivities.
Greece has demanded Tourism, vital for the Greek Medical surgery, military
they be returned. economy, has roared back training and specialized
For now, an app supported since the COVID-19 pan- machine repair as well as
by Greece’s Culture Min- demic, even as wildfires retail and live event experi-
istry allows visitors to point chased visitors from the is- ences are all in the sights of
their phones at the Parthe- land of Rhodes and affect- big tech companies bet-
non temple, and the sculp- ed other areas this summer. ting on a lucrative future
tures housed in London The number of inbound visi- in immersive services. Tech
giant like Meta and Apple
are pushing into VR head-
sets that can cost thou-
sands of dollars.
The high price tag will keep
the cellphone as the main
AR delivery platform to
consumers for some time,
said Maria Engberg, co-
author of the book “Real-
ity Media” on augmented
and virtual reality.q