Microsoft is partnering with the Greek government to digitally preserve Ancient Olympia

Microsoft has made a deal with the Greek government to help preserve history, by using AI and augmented reality to reimagine Ancient Olympia. Microsoft will be restoring the site so that users can tour the site, known for being the home of the Olympic Games, remotely using an AR app or in-person using Microsoft's HoloLens.

According to the press release, the restoration process will see 27 monuments preserved, including that of the original Olympic Stadium. Each building that has been preserved also has a timeline feature that shows how it changes over time.

As for how the sites are digitised, it was mentioned that Microsoft and the tech company Iconem used a bunch of cameras and drones to take hundreds of thousands of images, and then had an AI piece them all together to create the site as accurately as possible.

"The project to digitally preserve ancient Olympia is a stunning achievement in cultural heritage, bringing together humanity and cutting-edge technology to benefit the world and empower coming generations with new ways to explore our past," said Brad Smith, president and vice chair at Microsoft.

You can check out the digitally preserved site today, at the link here, where you can explore the different monuments and even explore the inside of a lot of them.