New AI discovers a never-seen geoglyph formation on Nazca Lines in Peru Posted on : Nov 20 - 2019

IBM power systems and Yamagata University collaborated to develop an AI-enabled cloud platform and geoscope that uncovered mysterious and ancient geoglyphs.

Could robots become archaeological assistants, shuffling or trudging across sandy terrain like R2D2 and C3P0 in 1977's original " Star Wars ?"

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine-learning algorithms, along with geospatial data, are being used to uncover mysterious and ancient geoglyphs, courtesy of a collaboration between IBM power systems and Yamagata University. (A geoglyph is characterized by the formation of clastic rocks or likewise durable landscape elements, like stones, stone fragments, live trees, gravel, or earth into a large design or motif on the ground.)

And, using the new AI, scientists discovered a new formation of very large geoglyphs in the soil on the Nazca Lines in southern Peru— the first to be found using AI. While straight lines dominate the Nazca desert landscape, figurative designs of animals and plants have evolved.

The development, research, and recent discoveries by Japan's Yamagata University and IBM Research's IBM Power Systems, which was launched in February 2019.

Scientists say they are expanding the scope of the discovery and will deploy its proprietary tech of PAIRS geoscope and IBM's AI-enabled cloud platform to quickly layer and analyze massive volumes of disparate geospatial temporal data. This will sense and examine the surface of the Earth, drone images, satellite visuals, and geographical survey information, according to the scientists.

Before this unprecedented AI, formations were assessed through a "process that researchers typically did manually by studying and analyzing different individual photos, a very time-consuming and resource-intensive process," said Hendrik Hamann, chief scientist for Geoinformatic Solutions, PAIRS, and distinguished research staff member, IBM research.

Two critical acronyms in the process are PAIRS (Physical Analytics Integrated Data Repository & Services) and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging).

 Uncovering new Nazca Lines has historically been difficult due to the amount of "white noise" surrounding them, i.e. irrigation lines, roads, flood trails and geographical discrepancies and changes, reported IBM research in a release. Using AI, PAIRS will sift through this volume of data to pinpoint relevant clues, with the goal of accelerating how quickly Nazca Lines can be uncovered and understood. View More