New technologies bring visitors closer to ancient art

Modern displays, virtual reality and lighting technologies are creating fantasy worlds and bridging the gap between audiences and artifacts.

Exhibitions in Shanghai and Suzhou, powered by the cutting-edge technologies, lead people to wander the streets in the Qin Dynasty(221-207BC), visit ancient temples of Egypt and watch relics from the Forbidden City in other ways.

All exhibitions, suitable for family visitors including children, are open in the Chinese New Year.

The second episode of Qin: Awakening, an XR immersive exploration experience, opened in Hongkou District on Friday, taking visitors on a virtual journey back to the Qin Dynasty.

Visitors, wearing virtual reality headsets, will embark on a journey of discovery to encounter a new Qin Dynasty world, with flying boats, legendary animals and swords and bazaar market in the Qin era, to explore in a combination of modern technology and ancient Chinese culture.

The spotlight of the new episode is folk music from northern Shaan Xi Province, where the Qin Dynasty capital and Terracotta Warriors were located. The music is performed by Xiong Zhuying, who also performed for popular game Black Myth: Wukong.

It's one of several top-level metaverse projects in Shanghai as the city aims to boost digital innovation and consumption. Up to now, more than 15,000 tickets have been sold online, with the total box office up to 2.7 million yuan (US$368,210). The Qin: Awaken series have totally attracted 80,000 visits already.

In the Shanghai Museum, an immersive journey into the mysteries of Pharaonic Egypt is showcased in the exhibition "On Top of the Pyramid, the Civilization of Ancient Egypt," which will run in the city until August

The exhibition features 23 Epson 3LCD laser engineering projectors, which help unveil the myths and legends of ancient Egypt, narrating the pharaohs' quest for "eternal life" through the captivating interplay of light and shadow.

Projections bring the Cat Goddesses of Egyptian mythology to life, emerging from virtual temples and moving before visitors, vividly illustrating the ancient civilization's deep reverence for cats and their integral role in daily life and religious practices.

"After watching the shows, I realized how mummies were made step-by-step and why cats were so important in Ancient Egypt," said visitor Xiao Chen, highlighting the exhibition's educational impact.

Yuan Xue, Epson China's Market Communications Head, added: "Epson is committed to leveraging projection technology to bring cultural relics to life, also captivating younger audiences and fostering a dialogue between science and art".

In Suzhou, "The Way in Patterns", an immersive digital exhibition by the Palace Museum is open between January 7 and August 17. The exhibition is held by BOE, the China's biggest display panel maker, tech giant Tencent and the Palace Museum.

With the theme of "Patterns" and 11 exhibition areas, this exhibition makes use of display technology and digital innovation. It extracts and re-interprets the exquisite patterns on the ancient buildings, ceramics, furniture and embroidery of the Forbidden City through immersive rendering, image searching and other cutting-edge technologies.

It's just like a visual fantasy journey, leading the audience to step into the millennium of history, and the classic patterns of the Forbidden City to conduct a dialogue beyond time and space, and witness the magnificent transformation of traditional patterns in the digital era, organizers said.