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CyArk founder Ben Kacyra reports that Hans Hess, managing director, Hanesco and former CEO of Leica Geosystems has committed funds to support CyArk’s efforts to digitally preserve 500 world heritage sites. Hess says he’s excited to participate “there’s an urgent need to document these sites quickly and properly” and believes the CyArk efforts are valuable for both their contributions to science and for educational purposes. Hess also says that there is a green aspect to this work that appeals to him, namely the opportunity for others to visit world heritage sites virtually with a 3D tour by laptop, without ever getting on a plane.
Hess committed his support following a field expedition to Monte Alban in October where he and others participated in CyArk’s inaugural development workshop. Monte Alban is a large pre-Columbian site located in the Oaxaca in southwestern Mexico. The workshop was also joined by Larry Wiese, Superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park and Dr. Nelly Robles, Monte Alban site director representing Mexico’s Instituto National de Anthropologia y Historia.
Hess reports that in the time since he left Leica at the end of 2005 following Hexagon’s acquisition, he’s been fully engaged with geospatial consulting projects as well as serving as a non-executive board member for several Swiss manufacturing firms as well as serving on the board of ETH, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Hess will deliver a keynote presentation at SPAR 2009, March 30th, Denver, Colorado.
