Large-scale Cultural Heritage of Humanity 1:1 Digitally Restored for the First Time in the World

As descendants of the dragon (metaphor for the Chinese nation), we have been influenced by the Great Wall, a military fortification in China we constantly see and hear since childhood. As the saying goes, one who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero. Besides, the Antarctic scientific research station is named as the "Great Wall Station"; the fourth set of RMB with face value of one yuan has been printed with the pattern of the Great Wall ... Even if one has never been to the Great Wall, the impression of the Great Wall must have been deeply engraved into his DNA.

* This is the Great Wall in our mind

* See what the Great Wall will look like without artificial maintenance?

The Great Wall, which was tall and majestic, has become so dilapidated? The picture is real. According to data, only 8% of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty is intact, and the appearance of the Great Wall in the above picture may have been normal. In another thousand or ten thousand years, the Great Wall may disappear ... It can be said that the endless Great Wall has witnessed the development of Chinese culture with a long history. From the Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty as a military fortification to the present as a symbol of territorial integrity, the Great Wall, as the only building mentioned in the national anthem, is a symbol of the Chinese nation and a treasure of human civilization.

If the Great Wall disappears one day, our descendants will lose the opportunity to reach the Great Wall and become heroes. The Great Wall may even be forgotten in the stream of history. With no evidence left, people may doubt the existence of such a shocking epic civilization of human.

How to keep the "disappearing Great Wall"?

Mural in Mo Kao Grotto at Dunhuang face the same question. Let's compare two pictures. On the left, the murals are badly peeled off, while on the right, they are restored by digital technology. After digital restoration, the fairies in the murals are vivid again, aren't they?

Referring to this case, you may ask:" Can we apply this technology to the Great Wall?" How clever you are! It seems to be possible. Let's do it now! On this "Cultural and Natural Heritage Day" and under the guidance of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, Tencent Foundation and China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation have jointly launched the "Cloud Tour of the Great Wall" applet.

The "Digital Great Wall" on the applet adopts the digital technology mentioned above, which is the first time in the world to realize immersive, interactive and high-precision digital restoration of the largest cultural heritage at a millimeter level（It sounds very powerful）! However, if you want to restore the Great Wall in the digital world, you have to take a set of the most beautiful photos of the Great Wall, which is not as simple as pressing the shutter. There are many "surprises you don't know". For cultural relics, the most important thing is "restoration". The professional technical team adopts high-precision scanning modeling technology to 1:1 restore the details of cultural relics without even missing a brick. The trees along the Great Wall are "planted" by PCG automatic generation technology. Even the sunlight is realized by real-time dynamic illumination supported by engine technology.

* Come and see what the weather is like on the Great Wall today.

The high degree of restoration relies on our technical surveying and mapping team. They went to the Xifengkou Great Wall in Hebei Province to scan on the spot. The number of their steps posted in the circle of friends caused a sensation! Of course, there is also a 3A visual and operational experience. The feeling of traveling around the Great Wall on cloud is very smooth. The cloud gaming technology ensures you an excellent image presentation and smooth experience even if your network speed is low.

Well, is digital technology really so magical? Let's try it. Look at these photos of the Great Wall. Which are digitally restored? Can you point them out?

Surprise! They are all digitally restored! Do you begin to doubt your own eyes? Such great works are produced by our technical team. Let's give them a big round of applause! Now, think about "This is the Great Wall in our mind" at the beginning. Do you doubt your eyes again? Yes, it is also digitally restored. It's so fun. You may wish to experience it yourself. By searching for "Cloud Tour of the Great Wall" on WeChat, you can not only see the "online photo album" of the Great Wall, but also participate in the "cloud maintenance" to experience a happy tour of maintaining the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty.

* Let's watch the video first.

In addition to using digital technology to make the Great Wall never disappear, we should also protect it on the spot to make the Great Wall protection sustainable. However, the number of people involved in the protection of the Great Wall is far from enough for this huge building. More social strength is needed. As an Internet company, Tencent has been guarding the Great Wall in various ways for eight years. For example, the charity project, "Count me in to protect the Great Wall", raised nearly 1.7 million yuan for the maintenance of the Xifengkou Great Wall in Hebei Province. The national game IP and the Great Wall IP have also been "dreamily linked" for many times, such as the "Great Wall Guard" heroes in the Honor of Kings, the "Great Wall Track" in QQ Flying Car, the effort made by KPL players and commentators for the?maintenance of the Great Wall, and S7 LPL lighting ceremony at Juyongguan ... Players can not only experience the charm of Great Wall culture in the game, but also help protect the Great Wall through a digital tour. Thank you all, the Great Wall Knights!

The theme of this year's "Cultural and Natural Heritage Day" is "Cultural Relics Protection: Times for People to Share". As an Internet company with a sense of social responsibility, Tencent Games will continue to optimize a set of digital cultural protection solutions, build the "Digital Great Wall" into a global digital cultural protection benchmark, and help people "share cultural relics and their cultures" with a low threshold and friendly experience. In addition, Tencent Games will continue to explore the accumulation and ability based on digital technology to realize social value. Maybe one day, after you visit the Great Wall on cloud, you can stop by the "Digital Replica of the Scripture Cave" to read books and stroll around the "Digital Axis" to experience a "Chinese culture" tour on your mobile phone. Let's expect that the continuous innovation and diversified application of game technologies will create more value for society. Are you ready? Welcome the future together and discover the infinite possibilities of games!