Ancient City Goes High-Tech With IBM Gear (EDITED)

The type of technology that allows gamers to interact online will soon merge real and virtual space for people visiting China's Palace Museum and those who cannot travel to the actual site.

IBM announced "The Forbidden City: Beyond Space and Time," a philanthropic cultural heritage initiative Friday that will enhance real tours of the 800-building complex, while also bringing the city to a global audience. In partnership with The Palace Museum, Big Blue is creating a fully immersive, interactive, three-dimensional online environment that corresponds to the grounds and cultural artifacts of such places as the majestic Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Online visitors will be able to talk with each other and tour guides or tour the grounds anonymously and go back in time. Actual visitors will also benefit from the technology through projectors that will put their experience in cultural and historical context and help. They will be able to use the technology for guidance through the massive site. They also may be able to record their experience, which can later be enhanced and relayed to friends and relatives.

"Unlike the real Forbidden City, this will allow you to view different time periods," John Tolva, Program Manager for Cultural Strategy and Programs for IBM, said during an interview Friday. "One of the questions we're dealing with now is: What happens if you and I are in that space and all of a sudden I jump back 200 years? Will you come with me? There are some real interesting challenges, but they're the fun kind."

The project begins immediately and is scheduled for unveiling in 2008. It will be presented in Mandarin and English, and developers are considering a translation service so visitors can overcome language barriers to connect with each other through an instant messaging application.

"The interconnectedness of architecture and history at the Palace Museum creates a unique sense of culture that has no equal. It is this unique spatial experience of Chinese culture that "Beyond Space and Time" seeks to bring to the world," Henry Chow, general manager, IBM Greater China Group, said in a prepared statement. "To create this experience requires an innovative approach and IBM is set to use the latest technology to tell the stories of Chinese culture through artifacts, people and places."

Chow and Xin Miao Zheng, China's vice minister of Culture and head of The Palace Museum, participated in a signing ceremony to begin work officially on the project, which is expected to benefit China in many ways. Not only will the project provide a showcase for cultural pride and a potential tourism boost during the year the country will host the Olympics, it also presents training opportunities with cutting-edge technology.

"The Forbidden City: Beyond Space and Time" is the next significant step in a series of major IBM initiatives to demonstrate the powerful role technology plays in bringing the arts and culture to people all over the world.

In 1998, IBM unveiled the results of its partnership with the Hermitage State Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, which, for the first time, captured some of the world's most beautiful masterpieces online.

Two years ago, IBM announced the results of its Eternal Egypt project " breakthrough collaboration with the Egyptian government to provide global access to more than 5,000 years of Egyptian history.

Tolva, who studied English before going for a degree information design and technology at Georgia Tech, has worked on all three projects. He said he and the members of his team build dimensions by getting direct measurements from models or by analyzing photographs, or both. Then they use simple shapes to create shapes that are more complex and apply textures.

IBM's new cell chip, which will power the new PlayStation 3, provides a realistic three-dimensional rendering for people to download. Users will see a representation of themselves unless they chose to visit anonymously.

Eventually, the application will be open to the input of other developers but subject to the approval of the team from China's Palace Museum, Tolva said.

EDIT: John Tolva commented here and this stamp links to his website, Ascent Stage. «The phrase 'beyond space and time' is an English translation of a fairly common Chinese saying meaning exceptional or superlative. In English of course it fits well with the kind of malleable virtual world that we propose.»