In Iraq, virtual reality helps revive the war-ravaged country's heritage

The Mosul museum is using virtual reality to let visitors explore ravaged heritage sites in northern Iraq as they appeared before the Islamic State group unleashed a wave of destruction. Photo: AFP

An Iraqi museum is using computer technology and virtual reality headsets to turn back time, so visitors can explore heritage sites destroyed by jihadist fighters and in battles to defeat them.

Islamic State group fighters captured a third of Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014, seizing the northern city of Mosul as their stronghold and vandalising or destroying a swathe of cultural sites across the country.