Through her glasses, Maria sees what she films as the scene is transmitted to the computer on the desk of her colleague, Francis, in his office. Intrigued by what he is seeing, Francis tells Maria to redirect the focus so that he can examine the gutters leading to the long-buried water source. A startup has recently patented a technology that allows divers to receive a message by biting down on their mouthpiece. A blinking light lets them know they have a call that can be piped to the ocean floor via wires from a receiver buoy floating overhead. Because Egyptian Internet connections are slow and power outages common, archeologists make sure not to become entirely dependent on the new technologies.
Some skeptics even wonder if the high-tech wizardry is even necessary.
That being the case, any instruments that can help them remember and record what they are doing must be viewed as extremely worthwhile. Other archeologists have seen direct benefits that justify their enthusiasm. Isabelle, an architect and archeologist who specializes in water tanks, explained how she was able to make a winning case for delving deeper into a particular excavation by basing her case on her own on-site drawings and information she retrieved from the intranet database. Empereur, who was working at a different location, reviewed her findings and gave his approval. There's no telling what might still be hiding under the ground in Alexandria.