Immersive adventures at the Porcelain Tower metaverse in Nanjing

As a world-renowned cultural symbol and historical landmark in Nanjing, the Porcelain Tower Heritage Park has been committed to promoting outstanding traditional culture. In 2023, an interactive project centered around the concept of the true-link metaverse opened at a museum within the park.

The project offers visitors a unique museum experience featuring elements such as the Metaverse Experience Chamber, VR interaction, digital companions, and the restoration of the cultural heritage site, showcasing a novel form of museum exploration.

The first step to embark on this marvelous journey is to create a digital avatar. Visitors simply step into the installation, and after about one to two minutes, they can see their virtual avatars appearing on their screens within the virtual world of the Porcelain Tower site. By scanning a QR code on the screen, visitors can simultaneously explore the venue in person and traverse the virtual world with their mobile phones.

The interactive experience is divided into eight stages, each corresponding to eight key attractions in the Porcelain Tower Heritage Park. Su Xiao, head of technology at the museum, explained that while traditional metaverse products are based on entirely virtual worlds where users can participate online from anywhere, the Porcelain Tower metaverse experience is different. Visitors must come to the physical venue to immerse themselves in the metaverse space, and they navigate through various points in the venue, while their virtual avatars on their phones also follow suit.

This allows visitors not only to see the historical site but also to visualize how it appeared in history through the metaverse. Moreover, engaging in fun mini-games and interactive scenarios in the virtual space enhances people’s multifaceted understanding of these cultural relics.

The project has been chosen as one of the first batch of 42 immersive smart tourism experience spaces to be under focused development efforts, as recently announced by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.