Have you ever wondered..
..what it would be like to look at information from the past without just reading textbooks or analyzing pictures, but by actually having context at a very close perspective?
Imagine the
way we see places from a device such as Google Earth. Google Earth is an
incredible invention that lets you view the whole Earth in 2D and 3D images,
made possible by satellite technology and geospatial computer programs.
Now,
imagine if you could view the Earth this way--but in a different era; a
different period of time, holding different information. A few years ago, even
the thought seemed impossible.
In present
time, however, a project has been started to create such a way--to create an "Information
Time Machine".
How could
such a project be possible? We have such limited information about the past.
Frederic
Kaplan, an inventor, professor, and president of an innovative interface
company from EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne), presents his idea for the Venice Time Machine. How would he
do it? With the help of an army of archivists, the immense Venetian archives,
and the latest technology, Kaplan believes it would be possible through
digitization, simulation, and extrapolating.
The project hopes to cover and
document the previous thousand years or so in Venice to create a giant information
system. It would take (as Kaplan estimates) around 10 years, since every
document has to be transcribed, translated, and indexed before it could be
digitized into space and time. This "time machine", though, not only plans to
document Venice, but to also hopefully put the information in the whole
European context.
With this, Kaplan admits it would
be very hard--"errors would be everywhere", since not everything is historically
trustworthy or correct. There could be mathematical errors, translating errors,
and even interpretative biases. A solution Kaplan proposes to this problem is
to use meta-data--document the whole process by transforming manuscripts into
semantically rich structured data.
You may ask: how would a map of
Venice in a space-time context be helpful to us?
It may seem like an impractical decision
to spend a huge amount of money and time on a project that isn’t even 100%
historically accurate. We have to, however, look ahead and see how this could
affect our future. As I said a few paragraphs ago, this project would’ve been
impossible 10 years ago. At the rate technology is developing, we can only
imagine what could branch out from this project in 20, 30 years from now. In
such a contextual setting, we might be able to see details or information in a
new perspective and discover new things. Imagine how these would help
historians, scientists, students, and a lot more of other fields. Imagine the
museums we would have; how easy access would be to such rich information from
so far back in the past.
Understanding
the past can be our key to the future.
Source: TED Talks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-Ev4rU27HY
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