See a unified Korea through augmented reality (VIDEO)
North Korean soldiers look in from outside the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission meeting room at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, on April 24, 2011.
What is really standing in the way of Korean unification?
Besides the constant threat of war and irreconciliable political differences, that is.
GlobalPost on North Korea: the drumbeats of war
Maybe the problem is that we just can't picture it.
The Augmented Reality Korean Unification Project seeks to change that (video below).
The project uses technology to digitally remove the demilitarized zone — both literally and figuratively — that stands between the two Koreas, returning the to its unaltered state before the country was divided.
GlobalPost in Siem Reap: North Korea's Idolatry, Inc.
By being able to see the area virtually at peace, the logic goes, it may be easier to muster the will to make it a reality.
As BoingBoing points out, this may be a tall order for one computer program, but it is still fascinating to present "alternate realities untouched by real history."
On the project's official website:
The public may view Korea as a unified country as it once was. The Korean Unification Project removes weapons, checkpoints, fortifications, barriers, walls, and all reminders of the ongoing conflict from the Korean landscape.
Viewers with supported mobile devices can see the DMZ replaced with nature as though it had never existed. This project tries to help the peace process by letting the Korean people see a unified Korea.