Google on Tuesday unveiled a new digital experience on its Arts & Culture platform that features Sudan's Pyramids of Meroe, using the interactive technologies of the world's largest internet company.
The tour features a virtual walk through the pyramids — designated as a World Heritage Site by Unesco. It also allows viewers to zoom in on their inscriptions using Google's Street View panoramic imagery, the California-based company said.
The Meroe experience, which is available in English, Arabic, German, French and Spanish, also brings the pyramids closer by using augmented reality models Google launched specifically for the project.
The "immersive experience [will] help people around the world learn more about the Kingdom of Kush and its culture in an engaging way", said Mariam Dabboussi, product marketing manager at Google, referring to the ancient realm along the Nile Valley that is considered a cradle of civilisation.
Virtual tours have gained momentum in recent years, providing experiences similar to the real thing without a person being physically present.
The market size for the global virtual tour industry is expected to reach about $24 billion by 2028 at an annualised growth rate of 31 per cent from 2021 to 2028, Adroit Market Research has said.
Historic locations in the Middle East and North Africa have been the subject of a number of virtual tours recently, including Baalbek Reborn: Temples, an app that features the Roman Heliopolis of Baalbek in Lebanon, and Preserving Egypt's Layered History, a platform — also backed by Google — offering virtual tours of Egypt's famous spots.
At the recently concluded Expo 2020 Dubai, Japan's pavilion, one of the most popular, offered virtual tours to engage more visitors.
Businesses are also using virtual tours for product launches. For instance, South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has recently been using such platforms in media previews for a number its Galaxy smartphone launches.
Unesco has also curated dedicated content to learn more about Meroe’s archaeological site, Gebel Barkal, and the sites of Napatan region, and Sudan’s Sanganeb Marine National Park, Google said.
The Meroe experience is Google’s latest effort to help share the culture and heritage of Mena with the world. The company has been digitalising imagery used in virtual experiences for over 20 historical landmarks and sites — including the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and the Petra in Jordan — since 2013.
Google Arts & Culture, formerly known as the Google Art Project, is a non-profit initiative working with cultural institutions and artists globally to preserve the world’s art and culture, shifting them to online platforms for easier access.
Its "Experiments" platform collections feature artificial intelligence and digital well-being to creativity and culture, the last of which the Meroe project is part of.
ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
Results
3pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m, Winner: Lancienegaboulevard, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Fawzi Nass (trainer).
3.35pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner: Al Mukhtar Star, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
4.10pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Speedy Move, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar.
5.20pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Moqarrar, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy.
5.55pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Dolman, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
