According to a recent press release, visitors and tourists in Hong Kong can now immerse themselves in history and culture in a new and innovative way through the augmented reality.
This can be done via the “HKACT! Act 1 BeHere” exhibit, which was created and developed under the Design District Hong Kong (#ddHK) project.
People can step into the past and take a picture next to a dai pai dong, a roadside food stall, at the historic Blue House using AR on their mobile devices. In addition, traditional barbershop and children playing can be viewed via this innovative platform.
The Hong Kong Design Centre Project Consultant noted that the Blue House is one of the project’s locations of the AR work. The work covers information from the past to the present. It can show tourists how the Blue House area has hardly changed and compared it to other locations they have been to.
The Consultant added that the project’s creators believe the current location is good; tourists can see the historical site as a background and learn about the area through stories about old Hong Kong.
Then, tourists can walk to Lee Tung Avenue and watch workers haul large blocks of ice, and travel to the Old Wan Chai Post Office to see a letter writer at work in scenes all performed by actors through AR technology.
It was noted that nowadays it is very important to use new technology for tourism projects.
The project’s creators find that it helps provide a more immersive experience when visitors can actually recreate the whole scene of the past and present it in the present.
Innovative tourism
The AR exhibits are part of the larger #ddHK, a three-year creative tourism project presented by the Tourism Commission. The project also features #ddCreativePlacemaking, which spices up public spaces with design twists such as creative typography displayed on the gates of Kong Wan Fire Station.
Graphics emulating a lush natural environment on the ceiling of a busy footbridge in the heart of Wan Chai can also be found.
The project also showcases a green tram decorated with white graffiti to add colour to the district’s streets.
Opening the project today, the Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development stated that locals and visitors can rediscover the city through design. He noted that the #ddHK project, particularly with the hashtag, meaning that connections can be established between design and Hong Kong, the new and the old, business with daily livelihood all through design.
The #ddHK project focuses on Wan Chai and Sham Shui Po in its first year by exploring the districts’ traditions, heritage and history through a variety of creative activities.
Residents will be able to reconnect with these historic places and visitors can learn about, and even fall in love with the city through the project.
Hong Kong – the ideal tourism partner
A press release from December 2018, the Financial Secretary noted that Hong Kong has long been the pre-eminent bridge connecting Asia, including the Mainland of China, with the rest of the world. This connectivity is underpinned by an extraordinarily strong tradition of Hong Kong being the bastion of free trade.
Hong Kong has been ranked the world’s freest economy by the US-based Heritage Foundation and by the Canada-based Fraser Institute since 1995, without a break. This exceptional connectivity, however, is multifaceted.
From finance, trade and logistics to tourism, Hong Kong is nearly synonymous with the connection, where ideas meet opportunities, investments meet ventures, demand meets supply, and where the East meets the West.
This people-to-people connectivity has made Hong Kong the most visited city in the world according to Euromonitor International.
The Financial Secretary noted that the importance of tourism to economic development and the enrichment of people’s life was undeniable.
The Belt & Road Initiative and the greater bay area development, which are about collaboration and sharing benefits, have presented Hong Kong with new potential. And Hong Kong as the world’s most visited city, freest economy, top financial centre, safest city, and one which has one of the world’s best educational facilities and the world’s top hotel brands, is a ready partner to leverage on the opportunities offered by the two initiatives.
