Turning digits into an art form

The Song Dynasty ink-on-silk painting "Life Along the Bian River at the Pure Brightness Festival". A detailed, interactive and multi-layered digital rendition of the priceless work of art, created by a Chinese scientist with Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, can now be seen and studied at the Palace Museum in Beijing. (Photo: Provided to China Daily)

A software engineer in Beijing has revealed a breakthrough in technology that could have a profound effect on museums globally and which puts Beijing firmly on the map of cutting edge development.

Xu Yingqing, 50, a lead researcher with Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, has created a detailed, interactive and multi-layered digital rendition of the Song Dynasty ink-on-silk painting "Life Along the Bian River at the Pure Brightness Festival".

The image of the priceless work of art created by Zeduan Zhang and rarely shown in public can now be seen and studied in unique detail in the Hall of Martial Valor at Beijing Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.

"It provides a virtual three-dimensional walkthrough of the painting with sound," he said. "The level of detail for a work of art like this has never been created before. The technique can also be applied to other paintings and even vases and the Terracotta Warriors. It will enable artists and art historians to study works at a level never before accomplished."

The original masterpiece -- one of China's top 10 most famous paintings -- measures 528.7 centimeters in length by 24.8 cms in height. It created a special challenge to the software developer, who has been granted 16 patents in the United States with more pending, because in common with many Chinese works of art there is not a single fixed focal point of interest but several.

The year-long work was carried out as part of Microsoft's eHeritage project in conjunction with Peking University and the Palace Museum free of charge. It was a pilot project with a view to rolling out the technology to other museums, initially in the Asia Pacific region and then in Europe and the Americas. No cost analysis has been applied to it and no commercial decisions have yet been made about its future.

The scroll depicts more than 800 people engaged in activities ranging from playing stringed instruments to paying taxes, illustrating the various strata of the Northern Song Dynasty (960 to 1127).

Microsoft Research Asia established the eHeritage project to facilitate collaborative research with academia in the Asia-Pacific region on applying advanced technology to the digitization, preservation, and dissemination of cultural heritage. eHeritage has funded more than 10 research proposals over the past several years.

"Building on the existing technologies provided by Microsoft for eHeritage, today we are in a position to both showcase and preserve the glory of the world's heritage for future generations," said Shirley Liu, communications and marketing public relations manager for Microsoft Research Asia.
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