Malacca is arguably the cradle of Peninusular Malaysia’s history, but the drive there can be such a pain, especially if you only have time to catch a few and not all of the sights.
As with most everything else in 2015, chill: Google’s got you covered.
Malacca’s 36 museums and galleries are now open for virtual tours on Google Maps, as a result of a collaboration between the global search giant, the Melaka Museum Corporation (Perzim) and local tech firm Kezerk Imaging.
“So far, Internet users could only obtain information on only 10 of the 36 museums and galleries managed by Perzim,” Kezerk direcor Paul Koh told Bernama.
“The 10 museums include the Submarine Museum, Quran Museum and Agriculture Museum, and the information is accessible in two languages, namely Bahasa Malaysia and English.”
The initiative involved taking 17,714 photos of the state’s museums and galleries, including all-encompassing panoramic shots of Malacca’s historical buildings.
The project, aimed at preserving and documenting the historical, cultural and traditional assets of the country, targeted Malacca first, but will be expanded to catalogue Penang’s museums next.
Of course, the virtual museums – accessible throughout the world and, because it’s Google, probably on select planets across the solar system – are also good for the tourism industry.
“To date, 300,000 paid tourists were recorded at all museums and galleries in the state and we are targeting to hit the one million mark by the year-end,” said Koh.
Kezerk will also be working on digitally mapping another Malacca historic site, the Stadthuys, for Samsung for use with the smartphone maker’s Galaxy Apps suite.
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