Τhe Athena Research Center’s Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP) serves a vital role in the maintenance, analysis, study, promotion and dissemination of our great cultural heritage – in no small part through the use of technology. This includes the digitization of rare archives and artifacts, the 3-D mapping of valuable objects, monuments and historic regions, the digital recreation of real and fictitious worlds and virtual tours through exhibitions and museums.
Now, a new goal is emerging from the lockdown and travel ban imposed by the coronavirus pandemic: to bring Greek culture, in all its complex glory, straight into our homes.
If you’d like to see a 5th-century BC “lekythos” (a type of ancient Greek vase used to store oil) from Attica, you can now call one up on your screen. Not only that, you can also rotate it, turn it upside down and scrutinize its every detail. You can see it in the exact spot it was found, and even take a “walk” around the excavation site of Abdera or “fly” over it to observe the whole region from above.
If you want to examine the ancient object known both as the “Dancers of Delphi” and “Acanthus Column,” you can make it spin around on your screen, you can delve into the acanthus leaves, and even admire the pleats on the dancers’ dresses, down to their last detail.
