Even When the Doors Are Closed, Visitors Can Still Explore: NAVER LABS Opens Kansong Art Museum 365 Days a Year Through VR

[Financial News] Kansong Art Museum, which had opened only during its regular spring and fall exhibitions, can now be explored through virtual reality (VR) anytime and anywhere. NAVER LABS has recreated the museum’s exhibition spaces as a digital twin, allowing visitors to explore them as if they were walking through the actual site. Artifacts that have since left the museum can also be viewed in the virtual space.
NAVER LABS and the Kansong Art & Culture Foundation announced on the 11th that they are offering a VR tour of Kansong Art Museum.
The VR tour of Kansong Art Museum is based on digital twins of the exhibition spaces built by NAVER LABS and works displayed in the “Enriching the Nation through Culture” exhibition. Visitors can move along the route as if they were touring Bohwagak in person, and select individual exhibits to view information about them.
Artifacts that are no longer at Kansong Art Museum can also be seen on the VR tour. The Qing Dynasty Stone Lion Statue, which had guarded the museum’s main entrance for many years before being donated to China in July, has been recreated as digital data. Visitors can also view the Goesan Octagonal Pavilion-Shaped Stupa and the Stone Octagonal Stupa, which were difficult to access because they were located outdoors.
NAVER LABS used its proprietary spatial intelligence technology to create digital twins of Kansong Art Museum’s spaces and exhibits. This allows cultural heritage objects to be preserved in a digital space and viewed continuously, regardless of their current physical location. NAVER LABS’ vision technology can create 3D maps using only a smartphone camera, without specialized equipment such as high-precision scanners.
Entries submitted to the Kansong Art Museum photo contest, which runs through the 23rd, will also be displayed on the VR tour. The plan is to provide an immersive experience that allows visitors to view their own photographs as if they were museum artworks.
Lee Dong-hwan, leader of NAVER LABS’ Vision Group, said, "We will continue to advance spatial intelligence technologies, including digital twins, positioning and 3D reconstruction, to digitally connect real-world spaces and objects and create new cultural experiences."
[email protected] Choi Hye-rim Reporter