A team
of scientists who last week announced the discovery of a large void inside the
Great Pyramid of Giza have created a virtual-reality tour that allows users to
'teleport' themselves inside the structure and explore its architecture.
Using
3D technology, the Scan Pyramids Project allows visitors wearing headsets to
take a guided tour inside the Grand Gallery, the Queen's Chamber and other
ancient rooms not normally accessible to the public, without leaving Paris. "Thanks
to this technique, we make it possible to teleport ourselves to Egypt, inside
the pyramid, as a group and with a guide," said Mehdi Tayoubi, co-director
of Scan Pyramids, which on Nov. 2 announced the discovery of a mysterious space
inside the depths of the Pyramid.
The
void itself is visible on the tour, appearing like a dotted cloud. "What
is new in the world of virtual reality is that from now on you are not isolated
but there are several of us, you're in a group, you can take a tour with your
family. And you can access places which you usually can't in the real
pyramid."
While
partly designed as a fun experience, the "collaborative immersion"
project allows researchers to improve the technologies they used to detect the
pyramid void and think about what purpose it may have served. The pyramid,
built in around 2,500 BC and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was
a monumental tomb soaring to a height of 479 feet (146 metres). Until the
Eiffel Tower was built in 1889, the Great Pyramid stood as the tallest manmade
structure for more than 4,000 years.
While
there are passage ways into it and chambers in various parts, much of the
internal structure had remained a mystery until a team from France's HIP
Institute used an imaging method based on cosmic rays to gain a view inside. So-called
muon particles, which originate from interactions with rays from space and
atoms in Earth's upper atmosphere, are able to penetrate hundreds of metres
through stone before being absorbed. That allows for mapping inside stone
structures.
"Muon
tomography has really improved a lot due to its use on the pyramid and we think
that muography will have other applications in other fields," said
Tayoubi. "But we also wanted to innovate and imagine devices to allow the
wider public to understand what this pyramid is, understand it from
within." When looking through their 3D goggles, visitors can see the
enormous stones of the pyramid as if they were real, and walk virtually along
its corridors, chambers and hidden spaces. As they approach the pyramid from
the outside, the tour even includes audio of Cairo's deafening and ever-present
traffic.
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