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Big data expert Frederic Kaplan is about to make 9th grade world history class a lot easier. He and his team are working on creating a information time machine — a sort of Google Maps for the past.
Imagine scrolling over an image of a palazzo in Venice and being able to ask, ”Who lived in this palazzo in 1323?” and getting an answer without having to pour over handwritten documents from the Renaissance — or asking your computer for directions from Corfu to Constantinople in June 1347, and receiving an estimated fare, length of trip, and a percentage of your chance of encountering pirates.
Pretty cool, right? Watch his talk to learn how his team is working to digitize 80 kilometers of books to create a virtual Venice that spans centuries»