The virtual tourist

Mesa Verde has gone virtual. Internet juggernaut Google announced this week it is featuring the nearby national park on Google Arts & Culture. Mesa Verde, along with 26 other world heritage sites, is part of Google’s new “Open Heritage” project, which is dedicated to calling attention to the plight of these sites, which are threatened by everything from natural disasters and war to urban sprawl and even tourism itself.

The project was launched this week in honor of World Heritage Day, which was Wed., April 18. Out of the 27 total sites chosen, Mesa Verde was one of only four in the United States. The others included the Lincoln Memorial, San Antonio Missions and Taos Pueblo.

The feature on Mesa Verde includes 3-D and 360-degree views of the Balcony House, one of the park’s biggest attractions, taken in February 2017. For the project, Google has teamed up with CyArk, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit that digitally records, archives and shares cultural heritage sites of the world. The organization also helps by providing drawings and detailed maps to assist in conservation and management of these sites. At Mesa Verde, CyArk used high-resolution photography to help park managers deal with a worrisome crack in the Balcony House ceiling.

CyArk was founded 15 years ago by Ben Kacyra, who was compelled to action after watching as the Taliban toppled 1,500-year-old Buddhist statues in Afghanistan. Kacyra, who is also one of the creators of the world’s first 3-D laser scanning system, realized his technology could be used to record endangered monuments so their memory is preserved.

CyArk also documented the ancient temples of Bagan, Myanmar, prior to a devastating 2016 earthquake as well as the Al Azem Palace in war-torn Syria and the ancient Mayan metropolis of Chichen Itza in Mexico. To check these out, visit artsandculture.google.com/project/cyark.