A three-dimensional representation of the architecture of the Palace Museum.

The Forbidden City receives nine million visitors a year, mainly Chinese, but Hu Chui of the Palace Museum's Information Department says most of them consider it more of a tourist attraction than a museum. "Only a few of them really appreciate the rich culture and history the museum embodies," he says.

Efforts have been ongoing for more than a decade to bring the Palace Museum closer to visitors through up-to-date digital technology but Hu says the US$3 million virtual Forbidden City is the most ambitious yet.

"We always aimed to achieve three things through our digital efforts: to introduce the museum to those who have never been to it; to let those who have been to the museum understand more about it; and to allow visitors to learn more about the cultural background behind each of the artifacts and buildings," says the museum's director-general Zheng Xinmiao.

Zheng believes the virtual Forbidden City is a giant stride forward.

The cooperation between IBM and the Palace Museum started in 2005, when the American company was finishing The Eternal Egypt, a collaboration with the Egyptian government providing worldwide access to 7,000 years of Egyptian history.

While IBM was considering its next partner for its cultural heritage project for online visitors, someone suggested the Palace Museum and it seemed ideally suited.

"The Palace Museum is a unique cultural institution," says Paula Baker, vice-president of IBM Global Community Initiatives. "Unlike many others that are based mainly on artifacts, it is focused on architecture, space, buildings and the atmosphere of the imperial court."

Virtual challenge

While there was unanimous approval about the chosen site, how to represent the awe and sense of space virtual visitors would experience presented a big challenge for IBM.

"Our earlier ideas were about what to represent on the web and what to do with high-resolution photography and multimedia," says project manager John Tolva. "But the sense of space and scale was missing. That's why we moved on to a gaming technology and a virtual world."

Tolva and his team have also added a cast of characters and a variety of activities and scenes to inject authenticity into the virtual world. Visitors can now conduct a 1- sq-km virtual walk of the Forbidden City.

"But this is not just about walking around," adds Nick Donofrio, an IBM vice-president. "This is about you literally being able to experience the way they lived their life."

Virtual benefit

With links to other virtual communities popular among the Internet-savvy, including Facebook and Second Life, Baker believes the virtual Forbidden City will encourage youngsters around the world to become interested in China's culture and history.

"We all know that young people are very interested in gaming technology and virtual worlds," says Baker. "By exploring the virtual Forbidden City, they will be learning Chinese culture and history without knowing they are learning it."

Baker believes the new site will enable netizens around the world to experience the Forbidden City in a way they would never have otherwise, either through a traditional website or even by actually traveling to China.

"We would never say this would replicate a personal visit," Baker stresses. "People should always try to come here in person but if they can't do that, this would give them a feeling of experiencing it in person when they visit the virtual world."

(China Daily October 16, 2008)