Dr. SHIM, Hyeseung (沈 惠昇)

Assistant Professor


Contact

Office: Room LC907, Library Complex, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, 12 Wai Tsui Crescent, North Point, Hong Kong
Phone: +852.3859.2643
Email: hsshim@hksyu.edu


Academic and Professional Qualification

Hyeseung Shim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology (Arts, Culture and Technology Programme) at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. She earned her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Culture Technology at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Her research lies at the intersection of human–computer and human–AI interaction, digital heritage, cultural policy, and global governance, in the context of World Heritage. Her current interests include virtual museums, visitor experience design, and data-informed approaches to cultural learning and communication.

Dr. Shim has worked in heritage conservation and management since 2005, with over two decades of experience spanning international organisations, academia, and advisory practice. Before returning to academia, she worked at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, as well as with UNESCO-affiliated cultural organisations. At the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, she worked on heritage conservation projects across the Asia-Pacific region, including in Afghanistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Pakistan. She also served as desk officer for Central Asia, supporting the implementation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, and as a focal point for the Periodic Reporting Exercise in Asia and the Pacific.

Alongside her academic work, she continues to serve in advisory and consulting capacities in the fields of World Heritage and digital heritage with Korean authorities, including the Korea Heritage Service, the National Museum of Korea, and ICOMOS Korea. Dr. Shim also serves as an expert member of several ICOMOS International Scientific Committees.


Specialism and Research Interests

  • Digital Heritage
  • Virtual Museums
  • Visitor Studies 
  • Human-Computer and Human-AI Interaction
  • UNESCO World Heritage 
  • Cultural Tourism
  • Cultural Policy and Global Governance


Courses

ACT201     Arts Administration and Management
ACT312     Cultural Policy and Development
ACT313     Archives and Records Management – Principles and Digital 
SOC416     Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage – Theory, Practice and Digital Innovation
GEB112     Visual Culture and Digital Media


Selected Publications

[BC] (Forthcoming) H Lee., H Shim., M Do., D Cho. (2026). Chapters 1, 2, 11, 12, & 14: (1) The Emergence and Evolution of the World Heritage System; (2) The World Heritage Committee: Establishment, Composition and Operation; (11) World Heritage and Sustainable Development; (12) World Heritage and Tourism; and (14) Epilogue. In Understanding World Heritage (세계유산의 이해). Seoul: Julusung. (In Korean).

[OA] H Shim. (2026). Positioning Tourism in World Heritage Conservation: Toward Integrated Governance (세계유산 보존에서 관광의 위치: 통합 거버넌스로의 전환). Review of Architecture and Building Science, 70(8), 22–25. Architectural Institute of Korea. (Invited article for the special feature on the 48th Session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee; in Korean).

[CP] H Shim., SY Kim., KT Oh. (2026). Heritage Soundscape and Experiential Sense-of-Place Design in Virtual Reality Towards Heritage Interpretation, 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), Daegu, Republic of Korea, 2026, 1-4. DOI: 10.1109/VRW70859.2026.00007

[J] H Shim., KT Oh., CK Shi. (2025). Exploring Social Heritage Metaverse for Virtual Heritage Communication from Multi End-user Centred Experiences. ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage. 18, 3, Article 44, 36 pages. 

[CP] KT Oh., R Sato., S Kim., P Koh., SY Kim., H Shim (Corresponding)*. (2025). Place-based Virtual Reconstruction of Heritage Soundscape: A Case Study of Magoksa Temple, UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Korea. Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLVIII-M-9-2025, 1105–1112, The 30th CIPA International Symposium, 25-29 August 2025. Seoul, Republic of Korea.

[CP] Do Ko., SY Kim., H Shim. (2025). Digital Preservation and Virtual Reconstruction of Architectural Acoustic Heritage. ISEA International 2025 (The 30th International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art): the 5th Summit on New Media Art Archiving, 23-29 May 2025, Seoul, Korea.

[J] H Shim., ES Kim., KT Oh., CK Shi., J Ahn. (2024). Diving into a Heritage Metaverse: Learning from End user-driven Experiences and Perspectives to enhance Virtual Heritage Interpretation.  Proceedings of the ACM Human-Computer Interaction (PACM-HCI), CSCW 2024. Interact.8(CSCW 1), Article 45. 36 pages.

[J] H Shim., KT Oh., C O’Malley., JY Jun., CK Shi. (2024).  Heritage Values, Digital Storytelling, and Heritage Communication: The Exploration of Cultural Heritage Sites in Virtual Environments. Digital Creativity, 35(2), 171-197. 

[CP] H Shim., J Kim., CK Shi. (2023). Poster: Classification of Typologies of Cultural Tourists at Historic Royal Palaces using Social Media Data. (Track: Large Language Model [LLM]), The 9th International Conference on Computational Social Science IC2S2, 17~20 July 2023. Copenhagen, Denmark.

[CP] H Shim., KT Oh., JY Jun., Y Choi., ES Kim., J Ahn., CK Shi. (2023). Designing an Extended Reality Mobile Guide Application to Communicate and Interpret Serial World Heritage Sites: Case Study of Korea’s Seowon UNESCO World Heritage Site. Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLVIII-M-2-2023, 1457–1464, The 29th CIPA International Symposium, 25-30 June 2023. Florence, Italy.

[CP] H Shim., JY Jun., J Ahn. (2019). Personalization envisaged in Museum Application Guides and their Implications: Understanding the Contextualization of the Virtual Museum within the Museum of Korea. Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLII-2-W15, 1089–1096, The 27th CIPA International Symposium, 1-5 September 2019. Avila, Spain.

[CP] J Kim., JY Jun., M Hong., H Shim., J Ahn. (2019).  Classification of Oil Painting using Machine Learning with Visualized Depth Information. Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLII-2-W15, 1089–1096, The 27th CIPA International Symposium, 1-5 September 2019. Avila, Spain.

[CP] H Shim., J Ahn. (2018). A Further Step Toward Elaborating Guidelines for Three-Dimensional(3D) Scanning of Cultural Heritage in Korea: Ongoing Efforts and Challenges. 2018 3rd Digital Heritage International Congress (DigitalHERITAGE) held jointly with 2018 24th International Conference on Virtual Systems & Multimedia (VSMM 2018), San Francisco, CA, USA.

 

[J] Journal Article · [CP] Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings · [BC] Book Chapter · [OA] Other Academic Output
 

Academic Research Projects

[2025-Present] Co-PI, “Developing a Human-Centric Evaluation Framework for User Experience in Audio-Visual Virtual Heritage: The Case of Magoksa Temple (Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries, Serial World Heritage property of Korea),” University Research Grant (URG), HKSYU

[2023] PI, “User-Experience Design for the Cultural Heritage Application Guide using Augmented Reality (AR) within World Heritage Sites.” KAIST HRHRP

[2021 to 2024] Co-I, “Official Development Assistance (ODA) Research Project for Cultural Tourism Smart City in Hue City, Vietnam (Museum component: Establishment of a Digital Museum in Hue),” KOICA and KAIST

[2021 to 2023] PI, “User-centered Prediction Model to Establish the Smart Utilisation System for World Heritage based on Big Data,” Outstanding Ph.D. Research Scholarship from National Research Foundation of Korea

[2020] PI, “Digital Storytelling and Establishment of Digital Database for the Virtual Museum Sansa (Buddhist temple, Seonamsa inscribed on the serial UNESCO World Heritage of Korea),” KAIST HRHRP

[2018 to 2019] Co-I, “Simulation Solutions for the Conservation of Fragmented Pottery and Ceramics,” Korea Creative Content Agency and KAIST

 

Policy Research Projects

[2026-Present] Development of an Implementation Framework for the 2025 Master Plan of the Tailored Support Programme for Internationally Designated Areas (IDAs), Global Research and Training Centre for Internationally Designated Area under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO GCIDA)

[2025] Development of a Master Plan for Tailored Assistance to Internationally Designated Area (IDA), UNESCO GCIDA

[2024] Development of Inclusive Heritage Presentation Guidelines, International Centre for the Interpretation and Presentation of World Heritage Sites under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO WHIPIC)

[2023] Policy Analysis of the 45th UNESCO World Heritage Committee Agenda, Korea Heritage Service 

[2023] Methodological Approaches for the Inclusive Presentation of World Heritage, UNESCO WHIPIC

[2022] Pilot Project on Presentation Methods of World Heritage Sties, UNESCO WHIPIC

[2021] Policy Analysis of the 44th UNESCO World Heritage Committee Agenda, Korea Heritage Service 

[2021] Preparation of Basic Planning for the Exhibition and Operation of the Digital Cultural Heritage Museum (Sejong City), Korea Heritage Service (Former: Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea) and KAIST

 

International/Professional Service

  • 2025. Symposium Director, 30th ICOMOS CIPA-Heritage Documentation (HD) International Symposium (CIPA 2025 Seoul)
  • 2023~Present. Expert Member, ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on CIPA-HD
  • 2019~Present. Expert and Voting Member, ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Cultural Tourism (ICTC)
  • 2019~Present. Expert and Voting Member, ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Legal, Administrative and Financial Issues (ICLAFI)
  • 2020~Present. Board Member, ICOMOS Korea


Government Advisory Service

  • 2026~Present. Technical Advisor, National Heritage Committee (Sub-committee: World Heritage), Korea Heritage Service
  • 2019~2026. Technical Advisor, Cultural Heritage Committee (Sub-committee: World Heritage), Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea (Current: Korea Heritage Service) 
  • 2023~2025. Board Member responsible for the National Lighthouse Museum, Korea Institute Aids to Navigation under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Korea
  • 2021~2024. Advisor, The Lighthouse Heritage Committee, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Korea
  • 2019~2021. Secretary & Advisor of the Committee, Advisory Committee for the Establishment of the UNESCO C2C Centre for the Interpretation of World Heritage, Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea (Current: Korea Heritage Service)