History

CyArk's origin is traced back to the founding of Cyra Technologies in 1993 by Ben and Barbara Kacyra. Cyra was the first to develop and bring to market the first commercially available integrated system of high resolution 3D laser scanning and cloud of point software for the architecture/engineering/construction, plant management, and media/ entertainment industries. In 2001 Cyra Technologies was acquired by Leica Geosystems.

The Kacyra Family Foundation was founded in 2000 by Ben and Barbara Kacyra as a 501(c) 3 charitable trust with part of its mission being the preservation of cultural heritage sites.

CyArk was created in 2003 as a nonprofit project of KFF to address this part of the KFF mission by creating the means for the Digital Preservation, public education and cultural tourism dissemination of cultural heritage sites. Upon successful proof of this concept through the CyArk Pilot Project, CyArk was spun off in 2008 as an independent nonprofit organization

The pilot project resulted in the digital preservation and public dissemination of 17 heritage sites worldwide, including monumental structures at the sites of Ancient Thebes, Angkor Wat, Pompeii, Mesa Verde, Tikal, and elsewhere. The pilot also resulted in the establishment of formal and informal collaborations with over 60 heritage organizations, professionals and service providers from around the world, including a large in-kind grant for advertising from Google.

Today, CyArk operates as a nonprofit organization and a 501(c)3 tax deductible charitable trust. CyArk operates with the mission of "Preserving Cultural Heritage Sites through collecting, archiving, and providing open access to heritage data created through laser scanning, digital modeling, and other state-of-the-art technologies." A key part of CyArk\'s mission is to utilize technology to tell cultural stories on a way that was never before possible.

To read more about the beginnings of CyArk and the history of founder Ben Kacyra, please see the 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Article and PBS Wire Science.