15 Aug 2012

Carved pou take on a hi-tech note

8:14 am on 15 August 2012

Carved poles starting to spring up around Otago are loaded with Maori history and information about indigenous businesses.

An initiative is underway to place more than 100 pou around the region, aimed at locals and tourists.

The red poles have hi-tech graphic codes - a bit like a bar code - that can be scanned by a mobile phone and turned into text on their screens.

The Pou Korero project, led by Hoani Langsbury, is a modern day interpretation panel.

He says they've done a trial of 12 poles, but want to put up more.

The project is linked to the Tiki Tour Map, an interactive map run by the Southern Maori Business Network, Kuma.