2019年CRI VR应用帮助人们亲身体验南非古人类遗址（在线收听）

Over the past years, the World Heritage site has yielded numerous fossils that tell the stories of human evolution.

One of the most significant finds was the remains of the Homo Naledi species in the Dinaledi Chamber, a room in the Rising Star Cave system outside Johannesburg. With nearly 2000 specimens recovered from at least 15 individuals, Rising Star Cave is believed to be the largest fossil hominin site discovered in Africa to date.

Now, thanks to researchers from South Africa and the United States, people around the world can virtually tour the Dinaledi Chamber with an app called 'Dinaledi'.

Marina Elliot with the University of the Witwatersrand says the app allows people to see inside the spectacular cave which is difficult to get into.

"The VR app is actually a really awesome opportunity for us, as some people may know that Dinaledi chamber is very difficult to get into, there is only about 20 people in the world who have ever been into that space, and so for us because Homo Naledi is such an exciting discovery and the material is so spectacular, we wanted to make sure everybody got a chance to actually go into that space and see what it's like for themselves."

According to people who have been inside the Dinaledi Chamber, the app looks almost exactly like the cave with an even better lighting and easier access.

Professor Lee Berger with Wits University.

"What this app does is in three dimensional space, it actually places you right over where our excavation occurs. So you can actually see the original excavation area, you can...if you search around, you can actually find some fossils, and make discoveries and pick them up and look at them if you will in virtual space, but you can also explore the rest of the remarkable chamber, you can look about. It's a true 360 degree experience."

The app features six scientists describing the cave in their native languages, a function which is welcomed by Mathabela Tsikoane, who works with the research team to explore the caves.

"I think it's a great experience to be included, you know. If I get to a place and people speak the language that I speak, I feel they are speaking to me. They're speaking to my heart. So, it feels great for Sesotho to be included."

The team says they are working to make their digs more accessible and to enrich the experience that the app offers to visitors who are eager to learn more about human evolution.

For CRI, this is Li Yi.

过去几年，南非这一世界遗产地出土了大量化石，诉说着人类演化的故事。

其中一个最为重要的发现是，在迪纳莱蒂山洞发现的纳莱迪人遗骸，该山洞位于约翰内斯堡附近的升星洞附近。科学家用在升星洞收集的近2000个样本复原了至少15具遗骸，因此升星洞被认为是迄今为止在非洲发现的最大的古人类遗址。

现在，经过南非和美国科学家的努力，全世界的人们都可以通过“迪纳莱蒂”这个手机应用对迪纳莱蒂山洞进行虚拟参观。

威特沃特斯兰德大学的玛丽娜·埃利奥特说，山洞很难进入，而这款应用程序可以让人们看到山洞内部的景观。

“这个虚拟现实应用程序给我们提供了非常好的机会，有些人可能知道迪纳莱蒂山洞很难进入，全世界大概只有20个人进去过，而对我们来说，发现纳莱迪人令人非常兴奋，而且山洞非常壮观，所以我们想让所有人都有机会进山洞看一下，感受一下。”

据进过迪纳莱蒂山洞的人说，这款应用所显示的山洞与真正的山洞完全一样，而且更明亮、更好进入。

同样来自威特沃特斯半德大学的李伯杰教授是这样说的。

“这个应用呈现的是一个三维空间，能够让人们看到我们挖掘化石的地方。人们可以看到挖掘现场，如果四处看一下的话，还可以看到一些化石，如果是在虚拟空间，那人们还能去寻找并把化石捡起来观察，人们也可以去这个非凡山洞的其他地方探索。这是一次真正的360度环绕体验。”

这款应用程序集合了六位科学家用自已本国语言对山洞进行的描述，这一功能深受研究团队成员马沙贝拉·提可恩的喜爱。

“我认为能够融入这个应用中的感觉非常棒。如果我去到一个地方，对方说的语言我能听懂，我就会觉得他们是在和我说话。他们是在跟我用心灵交流。所以这个应用里面有索托语真的太棒了。”

该团队还表示，他们正在努力让发掘工作更加具象化、可视化，从而丰富应用体验，满足那些想要了解人类进化的用户的需求。

CRI新闻，李易（音译）报道。