Ancient Olympia: Common Grounds exemplifies Microsoft’s AI for Cultural Heritage initiative, which seeks new ways to maintain the languages we speak, places we live, and artifacts we treasure. It also leverages Microsoft’s core technology and advances its mission ??to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Common Grounds uses cutting-edge technology and a universal design language to reach consumers around the world. The project intrinsically promotes increased engagement through an immersive “phygital” experience (using AI, XR, and MR) to preserve ancient history and make it accessible to everyone, anywhere — now and into the future.

Ancient Olympia: Common Grounds was born out of a chance encounter when Microsoft CEO Brad Smith met Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece, they discovered a shared passion to preserve world history.

Common Grounds is more than a multifaceted digital and physical experience. It lays the groundwork for an innovative approach to historical preservation while breaking new ground for public-private partnerships as the first of its kind for both Greece and Microsoft. Over 18 months of creative development, beginning in February 2020 and launching in November 2021, it combined pioneering design with painstaking archeological research.

The Statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, attracted travelers from across the globe. Once radiant in ivory and gold, the awe-inspiring colossus was lost to time — and left to the imagination.

Leveraging AI, MR, and XR, Ancient Olympia: Common Grounds resurrects this marvel of antiquity and recreates Olympia’s rich history. The multisensory digital experience enables people around the world to explore the birthplace of modern democracy and witness the Ancient Games as it existed 2,000 years ago.

Common Grounds also provides a model for cultural institutions to rethink how they reach new audiences. Fostering accessibility and inclusivity, the AI-driven translation serves 20+ languages and users can contribute personal impressions through audio and text. Consumers are eager for more engaging and participatory forms of storytelling; Common Grounds blends tradition with technology, bringing the past to life for new generations.

By design, our target audience was broad. Common Grounds aims to make the history of Ancient Olympia more available to the world, no matter the physical, cultural, or technological limitations. Building on the mission of Microsoft’s AI for Cultural Heritage program, the project uses scale to promote accessibility — democratizing access to the UNESCO World Heritage Site itself and reflecting the Ancient Olympic values of global community and cultural appreciation.

The driving goal was to empower Greece, through its Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, by facilitating the conservation of this important history and ensuring that they own the materials and findings. The core mandate of this unique collaboration between Microsoft and Greece was to preserve Ancient Olympia’s monuments for future generations as a way of creating an indelible cultural link between antiquity, today, and tomorrow.

Kicking off in February 2020, the global team first modeled the ancient site through a meticulous process of AI-powered photogrammetry. Archaeologists and historians, under the guidance of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, then ensured the accuracy of these renderings and their significance to the traditions, competitions, and participants of the Ancient Olympic Games.

Common Grounds leverages multiple platforms, while employing a universal design language, to emphasize accessibility and embody the collaboration’s core mission. Users can tour 27 of Olympia’s key monuments, like the original Stadium or temples of Zeus and Hera, onsite or at home via an extensive web platform and XR-enabled app. Weaving together all of the virtual and physical touchpoints, Common Grounds comes to life in an exhibit at the Athens Olympic Museum that includes a multisensory journey back to 173 CE (powered by Microsoft’s HoloLens2) and a native environment to immerse in the interactive app.

Common Grounds increased total consumer awareness — particularly, educating the public about the site of Ancient Olympia and history of the Ancient Games — through both targeted campaigns and extensive media coverage. The experience generated 6.6M visits, over 7M video views, and a total reach of 393M (and counting) users across all touchpoints.

Common Grounds has had a broad business impact and garnered global attention and recognition. Earned media and campaign impressions have exceeded 41M, while the web experience has so far welcomed nearly 100,000 unique visitors.