April 18th marks World Heritage Day, but as the world grapples with the challenges of a global pandemic, cultural heritage monuments and sites can feel distant from our daily lives. However, for those billions of people being told to stay at home, cultural heritage offers an escape and a connection to places outside of our immediate surroundings.
At CyArk, our mission since 2003 has been to digitally record, archive and share the world’s most significant cultural heritage. We believe in the power of these places to connect people and we have always felt strongly about the power of digital technologies to make them more accessible to a wider audience. It should not have been surprising then, when we reviewed traffic to the CyArk website a week ago, we saw a dramatic increase in the number of virtual visitors to world heritage sites available online through our website.
Our office was uplifted by this news, and sprang into action to see how we could make the existing, beautiful content of these sites more accessible for members of the public and educators. We are proud to share the results of this effort through our newly redesigned website which puts 3D models, engaging exhibits and virtual tours front and center as you navigate through cultural heritage from seven continents.
From the Explore tab, users can navigate to various heritage sites around the globe by browsing images that highlight each documented heritage site or an interactive map that shows their location.
CyArk creates 3D models of heritage sites by combining laser scan data and thousands of photographs collected while on site. The models are highly accurate, providing a sense of what these places are like in person and create some of the best opportunities to engage with built heritage through a digital format. The models are ideal for exploring heritage around the world, but also for research and use in the classroom.
The website now features nearly 100 3D models, many with annotations, that let you explore the sites, monuments and even detailed models of selected artifacts. By integrating Sketchfab’s 3D viewer directly into the CyArk website, we are able to provide quick access and a seamless user experience. Users can learn about the various sites through embedded annotations and can explore multiple models from a single site through the integration of a custom Sketchfab playlist.
While we don’t know what the future holds, we hope this new experience brings some value to the lives of people around the world and lets us all remember the fortitude and resilience of those that came before
About the author
CyArk
Spurred by the Taliban's destruction of the 1600-year-old Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, CyArk was founded in 2003 to ensure heritage sites are available to future generations, while making them uniquely accessible today.
