Prof. Selina Chan have completed a virtual museum (phase 1) - “Virtual Museum of National Intangible Cultural Heritage: Adaptation of Buddhist Sam Kok Pier Hungry Ghosts Festival under COVID-19 Pandemic” (國家級非物質文化遺產虛擬博物館:疫情下佛教三角碼頭盂蘭勝會的變奏).

The virtual museum was selected as a showcase of the STEM Research InnoTechn Expo 2022, organized by Our Hong Kong Foundation in late June to early July.  This year’s InnoTech Expo is themed under the National Sci-tech Accomplishments of the 13th Five-Year Plan and celebrated with the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR. This exhibition aims to demonstrate the national scientific research projects, strengthen Hong Kong People’s understanding of national Innovation and Technology (InnoTech), nurture people’s interests on InnoTech, and cultivate the national pride of the Hong Kong people.

Among the 54 nominations submitted from 10 universities and 6 institutions locally, 25 projects were selected. The Virtual Museum is the only shortlisted project from the non-government funded tertiary educational institutions. It would be displayed under the “Culture and Smart Living” category. This project demonstrates how Hong Kong Shue Yan University performs public education on Chinese heritage and reinvents Liberal Arts University education through research-informed, technology-enabled teaching. The Expo expects an audience of more than 100,000, which mainly includes secondary students and the general public.

Description of the Virtual Museum

這是香港第一個虛擬的非物質文化遺產博物館,目的是以文史社科研究的基礎和數碼創科技術進行知識轉移,推廣公眾教育,加強大家對中國文化和香港社區的了解和認同感。

這個博物館在虛擬環境中展示的除了有屬於非物質文化遺產的盂蘭勝會歷史圖片、舊報章的報導和漫畫之外,也有團隊為盂蘭勝會以攝影測量法(Photogrammetry) 建設3D模型,和超高清8K解像度360全景拍攝的盂蘭勝會全景空間(VR 360)。 來自世界任何城市的觀眾可以用VR 頭盔或Oculus進入館內瀏覽,也可以以家用的電腦下載一個免費的軟件(Altspace)進入博物館,同一時間館內的人數限制在30人之內,公眾既可在館內瀏覽展板,也可以穿梭時空回到2021年體驗真實社區內盂蘭勝會場景的聲、色、藝和人,甚至與其他館內參觀者互動討論,深化對地方文化的了解,對傳承與創新非物質文化遺產作了解,有助推廣和保育國家級非遺。