On September 20, 2025, the Beijing Cultural and Arts Foundation's 2024 funded project "Immersive Peking Opera Cultural Dissemination: The Legend of the White Snake VR Interactive Narrative Exhibition" opened at Qianmen in Beijing. Led by Beijing Normal University and developed in collaboration with institutions including the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, this project is the first VR interactive narrative work in China based on the Peking Opera adaptation of The Legend of the White Snake. As a technical partner of the project, Luo Yue, Head of the Dynamic Reconstruction and Applied Meta Studio at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), was invited to attend the event and participate in the opening ceremony.

The exhibition utilizes cutting-edge technologies such as volumetric video, digital humans, and virtual reality. Visitors can board a virtual painted boat and experience an authentic recreation of Peking Opera performers' movements, singing, and recitation within the VR digital space. Audience members can embody characters and personally experience classic scenes such as "Boating on the Lake and Borrowing the Umbrella," immersing themselves in the charm of traditional culture and joining "Bai Suzhen" in opening a new chapter of the millennia-old legend.

Volumetric video technology is an emerging immersive media technology. It involves data capture via a multi-angle synchronized camera array and automated processing by algorithms to perform high-precision 3D reconstruction of real persons. In the virtual world, audiences can freely view the performers from any angle and distance, participate in the performance, and gain a truly immersive experience. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) is undoubtedly at the forefront of global research and application of this technology. The university's Central Laboratory for Dynamic Reconstruction and Applied Metaverse provided technical support for the project, conducting high-precision digital reconstructions of classic characters such as "Bai Niangzi" and "Xu Xian," and faithfully recreating their romantic story in its entirety through VR.

With the advent of the digital era, immersive video technology will continue to advance further. Audiences will transition from "watching" to "participating," and may even "influence" the story's development through AI. Combined with other immersive sensory devices, humanity is poised to step into a more authentic and fantastical digital world.

Rooted in the art of traditional Chinese opera and integrated with modern technological methods, this project aims to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of Peking Opera, a treasured part of China's outstanding traditional culture. It provides a new medium for exploring contemporary pathways to disseminate traditional art and for strengthening the public's cultural confidence.

The exhibition will be on display at Qianmen in Beijing until November 15. It is hoped that more audiences, especially younger viewers, will be able to step into The Legend of the White Snakethrough VR, revisit the classic, experience the charm of Chinese opera, and strengthen their cultural confidence.