NHK links universities with 8K cultural project
October 16, 2024
By Chris Forrester
Japanese public broadcaster NHK has linked six universities, including Harvard in the US and five prestigious Japanese universities, to enable some 150 students and their professors to examine in fascinating 8K Ultra High-Definition detail a tiny national treasure from Horyuji Temple, Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The treasure, along with another 11 extremely special and precious artefacts from other museums were all digitised.
The resulting 3D general documentary footage and Scanning and Photogrammetry was done for the purpose of the 8K Cultural Heritage Project. That footage was used in a studio show that explored various treasures in 8K by looking at them in up-closes or by turning them around so that you can explore the treasures from different angles (which is the core beauty of the project). That show was aired on NHK’s 8K channel.
However, the experimental transmission on October 8th took the project much further forward and used NHK’s talents plus the Tokyo National Museum and the nation’s National Centre for the Promotion of Cultural Properties in a special 8K lesson – and experience – for students.
The famous treasure, the Kuse Kannon sculpture, was considered to be made in the Asuka period (7th Century). It is exhibited only twice a year so even researchers have not been able to see the treasure up close. It is recognised world-wide for its religious and artistic influence.
The project’s aim was to find out if technology could be used in fields such as art and literature to spark students’ interest. Professor Yukio Lippit of Harvard, who took part in the project, said the 8K result “was a revolutionary teaching format that will change the future of art history education”.
Japan’s 8K Cultural Heritage Project is a digital archiving project in 8K of cultural heritages. It utilises 8K technology and combines it with 3D scanning and photogrammetry plus a game engine, and this enables real-time exploration of the artefacts from any angle and enables close-ups.
Taro Kunimi, Executive Producer, 8K Cultural Heritage Project (and head of NHK’s Media Design Group) was tasked with bringing the treasure to life with an in-depth exploration within the University’s classrooms.
He said: “This 8K Cultural Heritage Digital Academy was a trial to explore just that. We are grateful to the six universities that agreed to collaborate with us. The participants were Harvard University, Gakushuin University, Waseda University, University of Tokyo, Osaka University, and Tohoku University. High definition 3DCG images of the national treasures were shared onto the cloud, and displayed on the monitors and projector screens in the classrooms of the six universities, and when one school operated the 3DCG images using a game controller in their classroom, the 3DCG images of all the universities move in sync. So, when a student at Harvard University operates the controller saying “This is what I noticed”, the 3DCG images were displayed on screens at the other five Japanese universities will move in sync without any delay, allowing all students to share the Harvard student’s perspective. It transcends space and creates a new experience, as if everyone were investigating a real national treasure together.”
Kunimi explained that not only this statue, but many famous national treasures limit public viewing days for the purpose of protecting the cultural assets, so researchers are often forced to analyse them using photographs taken in the past. “The impact of being able to view ultra-high-definition digital data of cultural assets from any viewpoint is immense. We truly hope that this 8K Cultural Heritage Project will serve as a touchstone to explore these possibilities.”
Shinji Suzuki, a senior producer at NHK’s Media Innovation Centre, added that the end-results were impressive: “When looking at the Kuse Kannon, one of the students noticed that there was a green decoration on the hand of the statue, while another one noticed that there was some red in the white part of the eyes. These were points that not even the professors had anticipated, and it was so interesting to see students and professors from various fields and universities come together to discuss their findings. It was very touching to see a unique sense of unity being formed as they explored the treasures together transcending physical space and fields of expertise.”
“The 8K Cultural Heritage Project has many objectives – for museums it can develop new ways of exhibition, for experts it can be utilized for research, and for artisans it can help the passing on of technical skills. For the field of education, we hope to contribute to a new form of education by creating “seeds” for digital education in this metaverse era,” said Suzuki.
Shinji Suzuki added: “I believe we have taken a big step forward. After this, we plan to interview the professors and students at each university and take their feedback, and eventually find a way to make the technology freely usable in everyday classes.”
Image credit: NHK, Japan