Benefits and challenges of digitization of cultural heritages

1. Introduction

The loss of the archives in Rio de Janeiro’s National Museum was estimated exceeding 20 million items due to the big fire in 2018 (Dom, 2018). Owing to the deficiency of digital editions of them, all of the art and science information carried were burnt to ashes. Since the museum is over 200 years old, it was considered as an extreme devastation to both the Brazilian ethnicities but also the whole human beings. Therefore, digitization of cultural heritages which can contribute to the elimination of the consequences of this accident is highlighted. According to UNESCO (2019, p. 1), “Digitization is the creation of digital objects from physical, analogue originals by means of a scanner, camera or other electronic device.” This essay will begin with the benefits of digitization of cultural heritages in terms of physical protection, extensive and free access, effective management and multimedia engagement. It is followed by the challenges in the respects of incompleteness and distortion of information and lack of a consensus on a universal standard. It will end with critical suggestions like more advanced technology, more trained professional engagement, universal criteria and a summary of its advantages and disadvantages.

2. Advantages

The essential advance of digitization is the prevention of potential physical damage and restorage of the demolished parts of cultural heritages. With time going, even slightly changing temperature, humidity and light intensity together with their correlation can cause accumulating substantial destruction of the original cultural heritage, not to mention natural and manmade disasters. However, digitization offering electronic archives can capture an artefact’s static status at a certain moment which reserves its information maximally, decreasing the risk of further breakage. Moreover, in case of lack of reconstructing conditions, digitization becomes a glimmer of hope of revitalization of historical relics. The rehabilitation of the Buddha of Bamiyan is a good example. Interactive media team of Tsinghua University Art Faculty projected a 1:1 3D image of Buddha of Bamiyan on the initial location in which the original statue no longer existed (Zhuang, 2015). It was actualized by a special designed projector with 600,000 lumens which enabled the projection visible during daytime. Though it was incapacitated to bring back a reproduced Buddha sculpture, it worked well in the condition of failure of reconstruction of an entity, because it avoided a further ruin to the cave which might be generated by reestablishment (Zhang, 2015).

Another crucial superiority of digitization is the multimedia presentation which engages more audiences in a more immersive environment. For instance, both history-based and handicraft-based role-play games (RPG) create a lifelike experience for the participants to have a more in-depth insight into the historical process and craftsmanship. For instance, the RPG in Tai Kwun modeling after a warden indicates his duties in the last century, from which players can learn knowledge via choosing a proper option to cope with an emergency. The mobile application of traditional Chinese folding fan enables players to manifest a virtual one by going through all the 16 steps from selecting appropriate bamboo to gluing a surface. As for antiques of augmented reality, viewers are capacitated to amplify the images on a display so that they can observe the patterns and textures in a more detailed way. When it comes to the production of an AR model of an antique or a panoramic photo of a historical building, it can be as easy as simply utilizing a smart phone and 3D scanner pro app or Google Street view app to make it, which lows the cost and technological demands. Thus, even an average kindergarten child is capable to contribute to the preservation of cultural heritages in the AR and VR form, which effectively encourages public engagement, especially from the grass-root class.

More extensive accesses and more convenient management of cultural heritages are inborn advantages of digitization. Therefore, for one thing, the limitations of space to display exhibits and time for museum opening are eliminated. In addition, those items which are short of conditions to be exhibited or long-time displayed are converted into accessible in the approach of cloud display. It is just the spatial and conditional constraints that result in only 2% out of total 1,860,000 artefacts in the Palace Museum are on the show (Ni, 2018). Online databases such as digital Dunhuang and digital Palace Museum provides free accesses to the website visitors around the world. For another, the drastic discrepancies of the volume and the room of information storage between tangible archives and cloud format demonstrates the obvious favor of digitization—save the cost of maintenance and fewer labor forces. The application of artificial intelligence and computer program in data process are also feasible to substitute human employees in the aspects of calculation and analysis. What’s more, the camera monitor transforms the up-to-date status of the cultural heritage into visible parameters, hence it facilitates the data management and increases the cost-efficiency. Therefore, cultural heritage managers can more easily inspect any corrosion and erosion in artefacts.

3. Disadvantages

While the excellences of digitization are evident, its innate drawbacks like incompleteness and distortion of information in the course of recording are also universally acknowledged. Owing to the finite accuracy of instruments, loss of the information of the original artefact is unavoidable. Smell, flavor and sense of touching cannot be imitated yet on most occasions. As for the illusion, take virtual reality as an example. As Li Runrong (2019) argues, since human vision field exceeds 180 degrees, while the head mounted display whose utmost angle is 180 degrees owns a flat vision, the images have to be adjusted in accordance with factors of lenses and be exaggerated by lenses to imitate the vast horizon. In other words, the information of the lenses except the center is distorted in order to maintain the accuracy and fidelity of pictures (Li, 2019). If a viewer’s perspective is filled with a large-scale sculpture, for example, he or she cannot appreciate its precise image integrally (see figure 1). To offset such illusion of VR lens, constructing artefacts into AR models can help, but it also requires abundant pictures from different angles and thus time-consuming process on the other hand, not to mention the number of antiquities. What’s worse, positions of a viewer are fixed in a VR tour to cultural spots. Although in front of eyes is a panoramic picture, sometimes the viewer even is unable to observe an artefact right ahead. However, so far by no means can completely solve these contradictions while gradual improvement is implemented. In this context, immature technology impedes digitization from alternating the primitive cultural heritages.

Additionally, digital formative cultural heritages make audiences sense detached from the past. It is the after effects, vivid color and equipment used that remind the participants of their modern traits. For example, the aboriginal Southeast Asian Peranakan cultural relics exhibited are 3-dimension printers in the Museum of the National University of Singapore. Their slipper white plastic appearance looked more than toys than serious exhibits, which led to a sense of inconsonance between my ancient anticipation and the industrial visual effects (see figure 3). Nevertheless, they seemed to capture the main features of the original relics, inaccessibility to the first-hand artefacts left disappointing feelings to some viewers. Moreover, Walter Benjamin (1935) who was a German philosopher also pointed out that the mechanic copy deprives the aura and authenticity of artworks, fading out the religious value of art which used to be close to traditions and rituals. Adopting this ideology, the behavior of Japanese Shimane ken Gootsu shi Chintai temples of manufacturing Buddha 3D print sculptures is unacceptable by his followers (Lin, 2018).

Lack of a worldwide standard hinders digitization of cultural heritage, too, as Dr. Gu (2003) claimed. His (2003) idea is that it is not the absence of criteria for digitalization of historical relics, which is acknowledged by mainstream, but on the contrary, there are too many different regulations and formats of files. For example, pictures downloaded from National Palace Museum open data zone is in .json and .tip form, while photos are categorized in .jpeg, .gif, .png and .xml, which are inconsistent. Meanwhile, quantitative criteria cannot be found in Guidelines for the preservation of digital heritage published by UNESCO (2003), which indicates the ambiguity in the consensus.

4. Critical suggestions

Based on the aforementioned drawbacks, an increase of completeness and elimination of distorted vision is a major technical issue. Distinct from the traditional mean of appreciating the artefacts and architectures solely visually, the 7-dimension movie technique integrates 3-dimension vision, audition, olfactory, taste, feeling and interaction with dynamic surroundings (Liuhaoyingting, 2017). The shaking from the seat mimics a real earthquake while the smog emitted from the front row traps the watcher with scents. Such a breakthrough can break the stereotype of incapacity of reappearing the authentic atmosphere in cultural heritage digitization. To produce a more precise image in a VR tour, creators may combine a panoramic picture with links to AR models so viewers can rotate AR artefacts at any angle. In order to speed up the course of AR manifesto, technicians may recruit and train qualified volunteers to assist them. For the sake of reproducing the sense of ancient, technicians can print 3D printer cultural heritages with more detailed and naturally transiting colors, though cost and hardship will absolutely rise. Meanwhile, creators can have a trial to print 3D printer artefacts with electronic display instead of plastic, so it is possible to copy the original color and mimic the initial texture accurately. Last but not least, UNESCO is obliged to form a worldwide written concrete quantitative standards for digital heritages.

5. Conclusion

Digitization of cultural heritages have advantages of protection from potential physical destruction, virtual reconstruction of damages and missing parts, multimedia interaction, less demanding public participation, broader access and more efficient management. In the meantime, its weaknesses of the incompleteness of information, distortion of vision, lack of sense of history and a global quantitative standard leave room of improvement. 7D movie technology application and combination of VR and AR can tackle the absence of complete information and visual distortion, while more professional massive engagement can accelerate the digitalization process. Proper material utilized in a 3D printer can create a more vivid ancient atmosphere and an agreed criteria can assist the standardization of digitization of cultural heritages. With the Rio de Janeiro mayor’s appeal of collecting digital versions like photos and videos of the destroyed items in the fire, Brazilian National Museum can be revitalized gradually by the help of digitization.

References

Benjamin, W. (1935). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Blackwell Publishing. 2005: 18–19.

Gu, B. (2003). Protection of digital cultural heritage and guideline of UNESCO. [Shuzi wenhua yichan de baohu he lianheguojiaokewen zuzhi de fangzhen]. Journal of the National Library of China. 1(1), 40-44.

Li, R.R. (October 22, 2019). Sense of immersion of virtual reality. [Xuni shijing de chenjingan]. Journal of information and communication technology. Retrieved from https://ictjournal.itri.org.tw/Content/Messagess/contents.aspx?MmmID=654304432061644411&MSID=745167124076574476

Lin, Z.R. (February 4, 2018). Digital technology and virtual cultural relics: guard of precious heritages or thief of aura of artefacts? [Shuzi jishu yu xuni wenwu: zhengui yichan de shouhuzhe huo wenwu lingguang de boduozhe]. Jiemianxinwen. Retrieved from https://www.jiemian.com/article/1923687.html

Liuhaoyingting. (September 28, 2017). You only know 3D and 4D movies, but never know 5D and 6D films. [Ni zhi zhidao 3D he 4D dianying, que buzhidao haiyou 5D he 6D dianying]. Technology. Retrieved from https://kknews.cc/tech/lx92log.html

Ni, W. (October 11, 2018). It is probable to open the integral north region of the Palace Museum in 2022, the number of exhibits is likely to surpass that of the original relic. [Gugong beiyuanqu youwang 2022nian zhengti kaifang, zhanpin shuliang youwang chaoguo gugong benyuan]. Xinjingbao. Retrieved from http://www.xinhuanet.com/2018-10/11/c_1123541522.htm

Philips, D. (September 3, 2018). Brazil museum fire: ‘incalculable’ loss as 200-year-old Rio institution gutted. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/03/fire-engulfs-brazil-national-museum-rio

UNESCO. (2003). Guidelines for preservation of digital heritage. National library of Australia. 2003:1-170.

UNESCO. (October 21, 2019). Fundamental principles of digitization of documentary heritage. UNESCO. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/mow/digitization_guidelines_for_web.pdf

Zhuang, J. (June 24, 2015). Buddha’s light reproduces the Buddha of Bamiyan. Recovery of the millennium cultural heritage by light. [Foguang zaixian bamiyang dafo. Yong guang xiufu qiannian wenhua yichan]. Liudong Daily. Retrieved from https://www.newmobilelife.com/2015/06/24/巴米揚大佛/