Louvre & Snap Revive Faded Ancient Egyptian Treasures Before Your Eyes
Video screenshot via Musée de Louvre
The Louvre and Snapchat parent Snap are taking you around the world not in 80 days, but in an instant, thanks to a remarkable collaborative project called Egypt Augmented. Visitors at the museum are transported from modern-day Paris back in time to Ancient Egypt through the prowess of augmented reality, allowing them to experience the wonders of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities and the Cour Carré of the Musée du Louvre in an entirely new way.
Snap’s AR Studio teams worked hand-in-hand with the Louvre’s Department of Egyptian Antiquities curators, ensuring historical accuracy based on archives and references. Important works that have lost their original luster over the years are virtually restored, with missing elements reconstructed in three dimensions. Current technology breathes vibrance, shape, and long-lost adornments back into these artifacts, making them appear as they would have in their prime.
Over time, these details have faded, leaving behind only bare stone. Thankfully, through the experience, visitors will not only view artifacts up close but also understand them in their historical context, bridging the gap between the past and the present.
Video screenshot via Musee de Louvre
Patrons to the museum can embark on this journey as they pass through the rooms of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities by simply scanning a QR Code on the artwork’s description with their smartphones or by using Snapchat’s camera.
Video screenshot via Musée de Louvre
Imagine gazing upon the Naos of Amasis, adorned with pink granite bas-reliefs on all sides, as they reappear in their full glory. The statue of the god Osiris, residing behind the wooden doors of the Naos, returns to its original place, radiating with the same aura that once attracted ritual offerings and daily worship.
The Chamber of Ancestors, representing the dynasties of kings preceding Pharaoh Thutmose III, bursts forth in vivid colors, painting a vibrant picture of history. Meanwhile, the intricate ceiling relief on the Dendera Zodiac, a fusion of Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman systems, emerges in stunning 3D, accompanied by an explanation of its intricate and nuanced purpose.
Further, the 222-ton granite obelisk de la Concorde now magically graces the Louvre’s Cour Carrée courtyard, standing proudly on its original plinth.
Video screenshot via Musée de Louvre
Beyond observing, visitors can also interact with the relics almost in-person. Using Snapchat’s new Face Lens, they can “don” 3D funerary masks mirroring those in the museum, enabling them to “become” an ancient Egyptian for a moment.
Video screenshot via Musée de Louvre
With modern technology, one can finally touch the ancient world in a way they never imagined possible. This fleeting experience will stay at its spot through fall 2024.
[via Decrypt and Game is Hard, video and screenshots via Musée de Louvre]
This article was crafted with assistance from an AI engine, and has been manually reviewed & edited.
