Ideas worth spreading

How to build an information time machine

1,259,735 views | Frederic Kaplan • TEDxCaFoscariU

Imagine if you could surf Facebook ... from the Middle Ages. Well, it may not be as far off as it sounds. In a fun and interesting talk, Frederic Kaplan shows off the Venice Time Machine, a project to digitize 80 kilometers of books to create a historical and geographical simulation of Venice across 1,000 years.

Imagine if you could surf Facebook ... from the Middle Ages. Well, it may not be as far off as it sounds. In a fun and interesting talk, Frederic Kaplan shows off the Venice Time Machine, a project to digitize 80 kilometers of books to create a historical and geographical simulation of Venice across 1,000 years.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxCaFoscariU, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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About the speaker

Frederic Kaplan

Digital humanities researcher

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Frederic Kaplan seeks to digitize vast archives of historical information to make maps that move -- through time.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxCaFoscariU, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.