2025-07-21
A VR Journey Across Ten Millennia of Chinese Civilization
Source:Science and Technology Daily
From transplanting rice seedlings in the paddies to joining young scholars on their quest to take the imperial exam, visitors can immerse themselves in these vivid experiences at the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE).
On July 17, the PKU-Wuhan Institute for Artificial Intelligence (PWIAI) debuted its AI-powered Spatio-Temporal Art Performance Demonstration Project at the CISCE LaunchPad. After that, the “Longlasting Civilization · Intelligent Society VR Experience Hall” quickly drew large crowds. Wearing their VR headsets, they feel as if they’ve traveled back in time to ancient China’s agrarian society. Many international guests marveled at the 360-degree, large-scale immersive experience.
“This headset is a portal to time travel,” Li Ling, Director of the Planning Department at PWIAI, told the reporter from Science and Technology Daily. Last year, the team launched their large-scale VR product, “Longlasting Civilization · Fishing and Hunting Society,” at the CISCE. This year, they focus on showcasing their latest large-scale immersive VR scenario, “Agrarian Society.”
Last year’s “Fishing and Hunting Society” VR experience allowed visitors to step back into the primitive era and engage in activities such as hunting, ritual ceremonies, spearing fish, and gathering around the fire. This year’s Agrarian Society VR experience features even more interactive storylines, including rice harvesting, imperial examinations, and cold weapon warfare.
To faithfully recreate the evolution of Chinese civilization, a multidisciplinary team of experts in artificial intelligence, sociology, history, architecture, and design carefully developed a 30-minute large-scale immersive VR experience. By combining large-scale location-based entertainment (LBE) technology with VR film interactive experience, the project creates an immersive environment where visitors can step into digitally reconstructed ancient rice paddies, imperial examination halls, and battlefields, offering a vivid journey through the profound transformation of Chinese civilization.
“Our products received wide attention at the CISCE last year, prompting follow-up inquiries from numerous cultural tourism departments and educational institutions,” said Lyu Peng, Deputy Director of PWIAI. Over the past year, our “Longlasting Civilization” related products have been successfully replicated and promoted in various parts of China, including Tanhualin in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Tianying Base in Ma’anshan, Anhui Province, and Nanyang Academy in Xiamen, Fujian Province. We’ve also started our international expansion, with ongoing negotiations for projects in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
In addition to its immersive, interactive experience, the PWIAI team has also created a virtual Wuhan that captures the charm and bustle of everyday life. Using AI technology, the team has brought the ancient city of Wuhan from the Tang and Ming dynasties back to life, populating it with tens of thousands of “historical intelligent agents”—AI-NPCs (Non-Player Characters)—trained through UV-based modeling (potential energy and value functions) and multi-task reinforcement learning.
“Each NPC agent can autonomously manage their schedule, trade, and socialize. If assigned the role of a ‘merchant,’ an NPC will engage in buying and selling activities daily and even haggle over prices,” Lyu Peng explained. The team first established models of the ancient city and its inhabitants based on historical records. Then, through reinforcement learning, the AI-NPCs continuously evolve, becoming familiar with social interaction rules and embracing “human values.”
“Thanks to artificial intelligence, history no longer rests quietly in fragmented texts but comes alive as a dynamic social world composed of countless ‘historical intelligent agents,’” said Li Ling. Such vivid reproduction allows modern people to appreciate the same moon over the river together with their virtual ancestors, helping spread Chinese culture in the most vivid way.
Lyu Peng frankly shared that the team participated in the CISCE with three main objectives: promoting Chinese culture overseas, advancing science popularization and innovation, and fostering educational partnerships. They aim to leverage scientific and technological innovation to immerse international visitors in Chinese civilization, positioning “Longlasting Civilization” as a new symbol for showcasing Chinese culture worldwide.
