National Palace Museum​

  • BenQ
  • 2014-12-01
The National Palace Museum Adapts Cutting-Edge Technology to Breathe New Life into a Classic Collection
Overview
Issue

The curators at National Palace Museum needed to fully outfit one section of its massive museum in order to create a dynamic exhibition that would demonstrate accurately and in real time, the elaborate detailed artworks of the Qianlong era through interactive, innovative digital technologies.

Solution

For a massive seamless image, the museum used three BenQ Full HD Projectors to create one continuous projection capable of providing movie quality content without gaps. To better utilize the National Palace Museum’s hall space, ultra-short-throw projectors were used. This versatile projector gave the curators more freedom to manipulate projections. Additionally, BenQ’s Transparent Displays and Interactive Flat Panels provided vibrant, crystal clear images that could transport visitors to a bygone era.

Result

The project made full use of multi-function, high-value-added integrated display technology, uniting a complementary range of diverse display products, including projectors, large displays, interactive flat panel displays and transparent panel displays. By deploying digital multimedia content, the curators could escape traditional display practices to create a versatile, flexible space that gave way to a wider range of possibilities for museum operators and artists to collaborate through the multimedia technology to present a lifelike, realistic interpretation of the Qianlong era (1734-1796) without missing a single detail.

Facts at a Glance

Year of Completion

2014

 

BenQ Solution Used

  • BenQ Full HD Projector
  • BenQ Ultra-Short-Throw Projector
  • BenQ Transparent Display
  • BenQ Interactive Flat Panel

 

Segment

Museum

 

Project

National Palace Museum desired to create a one of a kind exhibition to showcase the elegance of the Qianlong era with a wide range of innovative display technologies.

Challenge

Housing more than 700,000 unique artifacts spanning more than 10,000 years, the National Palace Museum is recognized as one of the best museums in the world for ancient Chinese artworks and objects. During the Chinese Civil War countless artifacts were salvaged and transported to this museum where they remain to this day. It is said that the collection is so vast that it would take approximately 25 years to see all its treasures.

For its Qianlong era exhibition, the National Palace Museum wanted to create an experience that deviated from the typical exhibitions that relied heavily on displaying relics in glass cases. To achieve the curators’ goals, a brand-new approach was taken that would implement interactive digital video, audio and lighting technologies, and display methods to bring the Qianlong era to life through multimedia, therefore allowing the art of the period to live right before the visitors’ very eyes.

Solution

To create the perfect atmosphere for the Qianlong exhibition, BenQ visual display solutions were chosen to design a diverse, multifaceted exhibition. BenQ Full HD Projectors were selected for their ability to intelligently overlap images thereby creating a seamless image. The DLP projector provides a picture quality that matches any modern theater, ultimately delivering a stunning image every time. Intelligent sensors quickly read a room’s natural ambience to find the optimal light settings, meanwhile, the sensors automatically correct any color vacations across the displays to perform accurate color matching for a more unified picture. Due to its versatility and highly flexible installation capabilities, the BenQ Ultra-Short-Throw Projectors were chosen to display large images within limited spaces.

The National Palace Museum entrusted BenQ to help create a fully immersive world, and to do that interactive flat panels and transparent displays were used to dissolve the barrier between museum guests and the artifacts. By using technology, the visitors could manipulate the exhibition to transform elements of the displays. In one segment, visitors’ clothing could be projected onto Qianlong era vases.

Result

In the end, the National Palace Museum saw its new media art exhibition as a success. Not only did BenQ’s Visual Display Solutions provide the operators with the tools they needed to bring it all together, the hardware had a few tricks up its sleeve, and gave the curators more flexibility when designing the layout and individual sections of the exhibit. Museum curators worked closely with digital artists to create a marvelous ancient world that lived and breathed, one interactive space displayed visitors’ clothing on ancient vases thereby creating unique patterns, another encouraged guests to cosplay while their figures were projected in digital environments representative of the Qianlong era providing visitors with an experience that was likened to time travel. The Qianlong exhibition was a success because it not only provided a look at history up close, but it allowed visitors to interact with its artifacts in a whole new way. From living paintings to projection mapping, visitors were learning every step of the way and the museum was able better understand how technology could innovate and reinvigorate its massive collection for future events.