Digital Humans1 Are Reinvigorating2 Chinese Cultural Heritage数智人复兴中华文化遗产

Leading museums worldwide are experimenting with augmented3 reality and virtual reality technologies to create new experiences for audiences to engage with art and culture. Earlier this month， the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York launched the Replica app powered by the gaming platform Roblox.

全球各大知名博物馆正在尝试使用增强现实技术和虚拟现实技术为观众打造全新的艺术文化体验。本月早些时候，纽约大都会艺术博物馆推出了Roblox游戏平台下的一款应用程序Replica。

It allows users to scan a selected number of artworks in the museum， and collect and wear them in the digital world. For instance， one can choose a character and dress it in Vincent van Gogh’s hat and shirt adapted from his Self-Portrait.

用户可使用该应用程序扫描精选出的多件馆藏艺术品，并将其用于数字世界中的收藏和穿戴。例如，用户可以选择某个人物角色，给其穿上取自文森特·凡·高自画像的帽子和衬衫。

To reinvent4 an immersive experience， museums in China have started using digital humans to transform visitors’ encounters with history and culture. Digital humans are computer-generated 3D images that look like real people.

为了给人耳目一新的沉浸式体验，中国的博物馆已经开始启用数智人来转变游客的历史文化体验方式。数智人是由计算机生成的三维图像，外形似真人。

The industry has seen rapid growth in China in the past few years， revolutionising5 e-commerce， healthcare， tourism and entertainment. According to a strategic plan by Beijing’s Bureau for Economy and Information Technology， the city alone is expected to see the market for digital humans grow to 50 billion yuan by 2025.

过去几年，数智人产业在中国发展突飞猛进，给电子商务、医疗、旅游和娱乐等产业带来了翻天覆地的变化。据北京市经济和信息化局一项战略规划显示，到2025年，仅北京一个城市的数智人市场规模就有望增长至500亿元人民币。

In collaboration with top artificial intelligence （AI） companies such as Baidu and Tencent， Chinese museums have introduced digital humans created by mixed reality technology to become tour guides and ambassadors of Chinese tradition. These virtual humans powered by chatbots can tell stories of massive artworks produced throughout the country’s history. They are knowledgeable and tireless companions for visitors.

中国的博物馆与百度、腾讯等人工智能领先企业合作，引进了采用混合现实技术打造的数智人，让其充当导游和推广中国传统文化的大使。数智人由聊天机器人赋能，能讲述中国历朝历代创造的海量艺术品的故事。它们知识渊博，不知疲倦，是游客的旅伴。

This new development exemplifies how AI can help China scale the preservation， education， circulation and promotion of cultural heritage and can inspire the world to do the same.

这项新发展表明，人工智能可以助力中国提升文化遗产保护、教育、传播和推广事业。同时，也启发世界各国以做同样的事。

Ai Wenwen， a digital employee at the National Museum of China， can instantly change outfits， from modern clothing to Chinese traditional dress， and give guided tours of the museum. Ai Wenwen’s name references “AI” and “culture”， suggesting the tremendous6 potential of AI applications in the cultural industry.

艾雯雯是中国国家博物馆的一名数智人员工。她能瞬间换装，从现代服装切换至中国传统服饰，并为游客提供博物馆导览服务。“艾”即AI（人工智能），“雯”通“文”，即文化，意为人工智能在文化产业大有可为。

The creation of virtual avatars uses image generation， 3D modelling， movement and facial expression capture， as well as rendering techniques that call to mind the world’s foremost mixed reality technology by industry leaders such as Microsoft and Nvidia.

虚拟化身（数智人）创作需使用图像生成、三维建模、动作和面部表情捕捉，以及渲染等技术。这让人想到微软和英伟达等业内领先企业使用的全球最前沿的混合现实技术。

To give its digital employee the appeal of a human celebrity， the National Museum collaborated7 with entertainment company Migu Music to create a song that is presented as if sung by Ai Wenwen herself. The melody combines traditional Chinese musical instruments with electronic music. The lyrics praise the beauty of Chinese art such as painting， porcelain and embroidery. The title of the song， “Wei Ai”， means the future of AI， or the infinite development of AI.

为了让数智人和真人明星一样具有魅力，中国国家博物馆与娱乐公司咪咕音乐联手为艾雯雯打造了一首歌曲，听着好像真是她自己唱的。该歌曲调融中国传统乐器与电子音乐为一体，歌词赞颂绘画、陶瓷、刺绣等中国艺术之美。歌曲的名字是《未艾》，即人工智能之未来的意思，抑或表示人工智能的无限发展前景。

In addition to museums， digital humans can help bring historical figures to life. In 2022， the Zhonghua Book Company launched a virtual avatar of Su Shi， an acclaimed Chinese poet and statesman. The creation of the avatar was enabled by the machine learning of 7 billion Chinese characters of historical texts and more than 100 paintings and images depicting Su Shi in the past 900 years or so.

数智人除用于博物馆外，还能用来“复活”历史人物。2022年，中华书局在机器学习70亿字的古籍文献以及过去900多年来描绘苏轼的百余幅画作后，推出了这位中国著名诗人和政治家的虚拟化身。

With the texts about Su Shi’s life and literary work being fed into the virtual avatar， it can respond to real people in a manner and language resembling8 this great man in Chinese history. It made its television debut in a CCTV youth talent show about Chinese poetry， surprising audiences with its remarkable human likeness.

将苏轼的生平文献和文学作品导入其虚拟化身后，虚拟化身就可以回答真人提问，言谈举止都与中国历史上的这位大文豪神似。苏轼虚拟化身在中国中央电视台的中国诗词类青年才智节目中首次亮相，因为与真人酷似，惊呆了观众。

The virtual avatar had conversations with live audiences about poems Su Shi wrote about 1，000 years ago. The TV show even presented an episode of the digital version of Su Shi acting with a human who played his close friend， the great calligrapher Huang Tingjian.

该虚拟化身与现场观众畅聊了约1000年前苏轼写的诗词。该电视节目还展示了苏轼的数智人与他的挚友、大书法家黄庭坚的互动表演，后者是由真人扮演的。

The virtual avatar of Su Shi has even appeared as an influencer on Weibo. Its account has posted quizzes and online education material， teaching readers about Chinese literature， geography and traditional customs. Apart from online programmes， Zhonghua Book Company has also designed in-person events for students to learn Chinese literature and history through engaging with digital humans.