Visitors are watching Hue Imperial City in the film reconstructedby 3D technology
The virtual reality park titled "Finding the lost Imperial Palace" is the project of 4D cinema entertainment service, investedby IV COMCo., Ltd. (the subsidiary in Vietnam of the Korea Underdog Studio). Hue Monuments Conservation Centre provides specialist coordination and site facilitation; the capital is entirely invested by UnderDog Studio.
The activity of screening virtual reality entertainment movies will take place at Information and Historical Interpretation Center of Hue Imperial City. This center is built in the assembly model to the east of Thai Hoa palace and easily dismantled when necessary. The building is more than 300 square meters, whose exterior architecture is in harmony with the general landscape of the Citadel and in line with the general planning on preserving and promoting monuments’ values in Hue heritage sites.
After the war, there are only 62 constructions left in the Imperial City, from 136 original ones. Thanks to the attention of the Government, over the recent time, the Citadel has received priority in restoration and preservation investment in many architectural constructions; however, there are still many important constructions which have not been restored because of limited budget. The full reconstruction of Hue Imperial City by 3D and 4D technology not only provides more attractive entertainment services for visitors, but also becomes a useful database for the restoration of the lost monuments.
The goals of this project are to create value-added products for the Citadel; enhance the quality of experience for visitors when coming to the Hue heritage sites,and create good feelings for visitors by reconstructing the images of Hue heritages by virtual reality technology.
“ ‘Finding the lost Imperial Palace’ will scan the entire architectures in the Citadel, combining historical data to build historical stories and create a space that when wearing specialty glasses, visitors will see completed constructions and can directly interact with them, despite the fact that a monument may have only its foundation left. The project has received feedback from the departments and the agreement of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, andthe Provincial People's Committee has also agreed on the policy. If everything is done on time, in early 2018, we will put the virtual reality entertainment movies service into operation. With this service, Hue will be the first heritage site in Vietnam and one of three heritage sites in the world to bring this advanced technology to serve visitors, along with China and Korea," said Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, Director of Hue Monuments Conservation Centre.
In 2007, within the framework of the project of "Reconstruction of Hue monuments’ images by digital technology" under the state-level exchange program between Vietnam and Korea in the field of cultural heritage preservation, Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology jointly made a film of Hue Citadel by 3D technology, reconstructing a majestic complete Imperial City. In 2010, the continued success of this collaboration was a film using 3D digital technology to create a prominent image of Ho Quyen Arena (Tiger Fighting Arena), where the elephants and tigers fought.
Currently, both of these films are being shown at the heritage sites of Hue and attracting a lot of visitors when visiting the Citadel. With the presence of the "Finding the lost Imperial Palace", Hue Imperial City will have new entertainment products, and visitors will have more attractive options when experiencing the cultural heritages of Hue ancient capital.
Story and photo: Dong Van