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Shanghai Daily Tuesday 25 July 2017
A visitor views a virtual reality scene through an augmented reality headset at the Memorial and Museum of the Second
National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The museum, like many other memorial sites and museums, is
introducing new technologies to improve exhibit story-telling.
New memorial museum presents
history in a visitor-friendly format
Li Qian
Memorial sites and mu-
seums are all about
storytelling, but telling a
story so well that people
are entranced is not always easy.
In the Hollywood blockbuster 鈥淭he
Night at the Museum,鈥?the exhibits
come to live to tell their tales. Now,
interactive digital storytelling tech-
nologies are turning that far-fetched
idea into practical reality.
One of those technologies relies
on augmented reality. It has been de-
ployed to great effect in the Memorial
and Museum of the Second National
Congress of the Communist Party of
China, which has reopened in Jing鈥檃n
after a four-month renovation.
This is a break from the stereo-
typed image of Party鈥檚 memorial
sites, which are usually deemed
dogmatic and old-fogey. Instead, the
refurbished museum both educates
and entertains in an engaging style
that will resonate with visitors.
The first plenary session of Second
National Congress of CPC, held in
July 1922, is an important piece of
Chinese history. It adopted the first
Party Constitution.
In the reopened facility, visi-
tors walk into a 鈥渓iving room鈥?in a
building styled in the traditional
Shanghai shikumen architecture. The
room features a traditional Chinese-
style table and chairs.
Visitors are given specially de-
signed glasses that use augmented
reality to create a mix of the
real and digital worlds. Through
computer-generated sensory input,
visitors can see the Party Constitu-
tion appear above the table and flick
through it automatically. Later in the
presentation, early Party leaders who
attended the session appear. They sit
at the table and talk to each other.
The experience is dynamic, allow-
ing visitors to actually see history as
if they were participants.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting,鈥?said armed po-
lice officer Cai Chenhua, who visited
the site. 鈥淚 have never experienced
augmented reality before. It helps
me to better understand history.鈥?
Another visitor, surnamed Zhu,
was equally impressed.
鈥淚 got to see the actual setting
of the Second National Congress
of CPC, including items such as
the teacups that were used by the
participants. It felt as if I were there
with them.鈥?
The memorial museum also has a
giant LED screen stretching to the
ceiling, 3D effects and some touch
screens.
In the past, a Party flag was hung
behind the bronze statues that rep-
resent a grassroots worker, farmer,
woman and young student in the
entrance hall. Now, the flag has been
replaced by an LED screen, where
visitors can see blue sky and scud-
ding clouds. At certain times, videos
of Party history will be played on the
screen.
In a room opposite the hall, 3D ho-
lographic projection is used to tell a
piece of rarely known history. Lights
and words are projected on a model
of the site that held the important
Party meeting in 1922, along with
an audio interpretation. The site was
also the People鈥檚 Publishing House
鈥?the first secret publishing house
of the Party 鈥?and the apartment of
Li Da, one of the founding members
of the Party.
鈥淭he site locates where the former
International Settlement and French
Concession met,鈥?said You Wei, an
official with the site. 鈥淎lso, shikumen
buildings were common in Shanghai
and look very similar. So, it was a
safe and secret place.鈥?
Another highlight is the room of
Party Constitutions. There, visitors
can read the electronic versions of
constitutions in various editions and
in foreign languages by touching a
glass screen in front of the original
books.
You said they have managed to
collect about 1,300 copies, and the
exhibits will be changed from time
to time. It will give the memorial
the chance to constantly create new
experiences to try to get people to
visit more than once.
The memorial museum is open
Tuesdays through Sundays, from
9am to 4pm.
Visitors can read
various editions
of the Party
constitution by
touching the glass
screen in front
of the original
documents. 鈥?
Jiang Xiaowei
Jing鈥檃n B3
Technology
enhances other
museum sites
in the district
Shanghai Natural History Museum
This museum holds a combination
of classic and modern elements related
to the natural world. It uses interactive
activities to enhance the experience for
visitors. Attractions include dinosaur
models that move and roar, and interac-
tive multimedia displays allowing visitors
to get close to exhibits.
Visitors can scan designated specimens
by using the museum鈥檚 app, bringing
ancient fossils 鈥渂ack to life.鈥?They can see
a Smilodon, a saber-toothed prehistoric
beast, jumping out of the screen into
the air, and the giant Mamenchisaurus
dinosaur lumbering along in the Jurassic
Period.
In a temporary exhibition being held
through August 2, 35 dinosaurs 鈥渃ome to
life,鈥?thanks to the modern technologies
of augmented reality, virtual reality and
3D effects.
Sihang Warehouse Battle Memorial
This venue along Suzhou Creek was
originally built as a storage facility for
banks, but Japanese invaders requi-
sitioned it as a military headquarters
during their occupation of Shanghai in
World War II.
Around the warehouse, Chinese and
Japanese soldiers engaged in a fierce
four-day battle in 1937. It was one of the
bloodiest campaigns in Shanghai wartime.
Bullet holes can still be seen in the walls.
The battle is 鈥渞e-enacted鈥?through audio
effects and 3D holographic projection.
Visitors can stand among bronze stat-
ues of soldiers and listen to Colonel Xie
Jinyuan talking. They can also experience
the sensations of 鈥渟tout resistance鈥?and
鈥渞aging flames鈥?outside the warehouse.
The memorial periodically will hold
鈥渋nteractive plays,鈥?with middle school
children re-enacting some of the histori-
cal events.