In the middle of November and someone told me, Christmas is nearly upon us!! Wow… have to admit, this year has gone super quick!
Not to dribble on about what’s been happening this year for me (I’ll save that for another day), but here’s my Top Two Tech Stories from this Week!
- First up… AI in Greece!!
Ancient Olympia is to be digitally preserved, in a new deal between the Greek government and Microsoft.
The collaboration uses artificial intelligence to map the site, and augmented reality to help restore the original home of the Olympic Games.
It will allow viewers to explore the area as it stood more than 2,000 years ago.
Microsoft has ambitions to rival Facebook with its own plans for the so-called metaverse.
It recently announced Microsoft Teams metaverse for meetings and is keen to transform Minecraft and other games it owns into more immersive 3D worlds.
Its tie-up with the Greek government means people can tour the site remotely or in person with an augmented-reality mobile app. At the Olympic Museum in Athens they can use HoloLens headsets to overlay a digital version of the site.
Microsoft’s augmented reality smart glasses HoloLens use multiple sensors, advanced optics, and holograms, to display information, blend with the real world or simulate a virtual world.
Among the 27 monuments to be preserved are the original Olympic Stadium, the temples of Zeus and Hera, and the workshop of the renowned sculptor Phidias.
The buildings are as close as possible to their original forms and include historical timelines of the site’s changes over time, and depictions of artefacts from each period.
Through its AI for Cultural Heritage initiative, Microsoft partnered technology company Iconem, which specializes in digitising historic sites in 3D.
Using on-the-ground cameras and drones to take hundreds of thousands of images of the site, Microsoft AI then processed the pictures to create models.
“The cultural implications of this technology are endless. For the first time, visitors from around the world can virtually visit the birthplace of democracy, the ancient site of Olympia, and experience history first hand,” said the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft said: “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.”
2. Up next… Beware and watch out for those scams!
A grandfather has told of how he lost money saved for Christmas presents after his family were duped by fraudsters on WhatsApp.
The 75-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, said they had been tricked by criminals posing as his grand-daughter on the messaging service.
He transferred £1,550 to the con-artists, for an emergency medical bill that was a fake.
WhatsApp and trading standards officers are warning others of the scam.
Fraudsters posing as the young student sent a message to her father, saying she had a case of haemorrhoids that she was embarrassed to talk about.
Subsequent messages suggested that she needed money for private medical care and asked for the money to be transferred directly.
The correct spelling of her unusual name helped convince the family it was genuine, and her grandfather agreed to pay the supposed bill.
Attempts to contact her directly failed, as the calls went straight to an answerphone.
Only after the money was paid did they get through to her, and realised they had been tricked.
“You feel such a fool,” her grandfather said. “I was angry that I was able to be duped.
“You get used to these scam calls, but they are getting quite clever. I used to run my own business, so if they can fool people like me, a lot of very vulnerable people will be in trouble.”
He is trying to get the money refunded from his bank, but so far they have said their fraud checks were sufficient and have refused to reimburse him.
Surveys have suggested that 59% of those asked had received a message-based scam attempt in the last year.
Younger age groups, who were more likely to text than call, were said to be more exposed to these kinds of scams.
So stay careful – and if it doesn’t seem to be right, or if you haven’t spoken to the person – double/triple check, what you’re doing is the right thing.
There you go… my Top Two Tech Stories of the week…. AI is preserving Ancient Olympia and Whatsapp Scams getting more clever!