China’s Palace Museum’s virtual reality ‘reconstructs’ ancient kilns that made emperors’ porcelain treasures
New interactive exhibition offers 3D images of factories in Jingde – the nation’s ‘Porcelain Capital’ – creating ceramics for Ming and Qing dynasty rulers
China’s Palace Museum has introduced interactive virtual reality technology to one of its exhibitions for the first time so visitors can see “reconstructions” of the ancient kilns, factories and other buildings that created fine porcelain treasures for the imperial palace.
The Beijing palace, also known as the Forbidden City, was home to Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasty emperors who set up the factories and kilns to carry out the work in Jingde, Jiangxi province, about 1,700km from Beijing, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
Up to 165 ceramic relics uncovered in Jingde – dubbed the “Porcelain Capital” because it has been producing fine porcelain for 1,700 years – are on display.
The exhibition uses interactive virtual reality technology to provide visitors with a visual and audio reconstruction of how the site would have looked at the time.