Dexter Studios presented various immersive content showcasing the culture and identity of ASEAN countries at the Korea Foundation (KF) ASEAN Culture House.
ⓒ ASEAN Culture House
Dexter Studios presented various immersive content showcasing the culture and identity of ASEAN countries at the Korea Foundation (KF) ASEAN Culture House.
On April 26, the KF ASEAN Culture House hosted an opening ceremony to showcase the newly renovated “ASEAN Digital Culture Zone” in Busan. The opening ceremony was attended by the ambassadors (Indonesian Ambassador to Korea, Gandi Sulistiyanto; Datuk Lim Juay Jin, Ambassador of Malaysia to Korea; Burman (Deputy) Ambassador to Korea, Kay Thwe Win; Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts of Malaysia, Mohd Zamzuri Ab Ghani; Chairperson of the ASEAN Foundation, Piti Srisangnam; Director of the Asian Civilizations Museum in Singapore, Ting Wei Jin Kennie, etc.) from ASEAN countries, officials from key ministries, Dexter Studios’ CEO Kim Wook and Director Lee Hyeon-min, who helped develop the immersive content for the ASEAN Digital Culture Zone.
Indonesian Ambassador to Korea Gandi Sulistiyanto said, “2023 is a meaningful year in that Korea and Indonesia are celebrating the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries. To that end, sharing scenes from Indonesia’s national parks in real-time on the main media wall of the ASEAN Digital Culture Zone feels particularly significant.”
Datuk Lim, Ambassador of Malaysia to Korea, also stressed the importance of digital diplomacy, saying, “I am delighted to be able to show ASEAN cultures using various technologies of digital technology.” He added, “These types of activities will open a great chapter in promoting mutual understanding between the ASEAN and Korea.”
As a cultural platform connecting Korea and the ASEAN, the ASEAN Culture House, an organization affiliated with the Korea Foundation, provides immersive culture programs such as exhibitions, performances, and festivals introducing the ASEAN to Korean audiences. Here, “ASEAN” refers to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and is currently an international organization consisting of ten countries: the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
Dexter Studios was tasked with planning and producing digital immersive content in the ASEAN Digital Culture Zone, capturing the colorful culture of ASEAN nations. Genuinely realistic content was planned and developed by Dexter Studios under the tagline, “One Vision, One Identity, One Community” of the ASEAN, which stands for bringing harmony between different countries and cultures across the ASEAN.
Dexter Studios’ latest production features a total of five works: “Facing each other” which contains the identities of ASEAN countries on a media wall; “Breathing together” that reflects the natural environment of Indonesia’s tropical rainforest in real-time; Immersive video “Stories Told,” a modern representation of Thai folklore; “Walking Side by Side,” a panoramic immersive panoramic video of major cities in ASEAN with 3D particles; and “Play Together,” a scan-based interactive content in which a character you decorate yourself is applied as an avatar and reacts.
“Breathing Together,” a live media wall that fills one side of the lobby of the ASEAN Culture House, features a real-time video that transcends the limits of time and space and reproduces the local climate of Indonesia in a 3D digital environment. In order to add a sense of reality to visitors and make them feel like they are indeed in Indonesia for a moment, the production uses a user interface (UI) that reflects the weather data from Gunung Leuser National Park in real time. Here, the data is collected from OpenWeatherMap, a representative site that provides an Application Program Interface (API).
Lee Hyeon-min, Head of the Immersive Content Division at Dexter Studios, who oversaw this project, said, “We made great use of our business know-how and technology we were able to gather by producing numerous pieces of immersive media content, such as the Gwanghwa Mural at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Joseon Royal Tombs of the Cultural Heritage Administration, the Pyeongsaengdo at the National Museum of Korea, and Gyerim in Gyeongju.” Lee explained, “In particular, ‘Breathing Together’ delicately captures the actual topography, climate, and day and night changes of Gunung Leuser National Park, a rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage, so that our guests and viewers can enjoy its magnificent scenery.” He continued, “We worked hard to secure enough asset data that reflected real-time ecological conditions such as precipitation, trees shaking at different wind speeds, and the sheer volume of clouds in Indonesia.”
In addition, the super-large multi-sided theater production “Stories Told” will also attract the attention of visitors with colors and shapes unique to Thailand. The main plot of the Thai folk tale Ramakien has been rearranged to better fit modern media art, and rendered using multi-projection mapping technology. Multi-projection mapping divides content across a large area using multiple projectors, providing a more expansive field of view and a much more immersive setting compared to using a single projector. In addition, LiveTone, a company specializing in content sound mixing and a subsidiary of Dexter Studios, introduced a 7.1-channel stereo surround sound system that focuses sound from multiple angles to one point to deliver more realistic sounds.
Kim Wook, CEO of Dexter Studios, who attended the opening ceremony, said, “This project involved a new form of entertainment content that combines the traditions and identities of ASEAN countries with modern and immersive content technology.” He added, “Using our know-how in the media art business and this latest experience with the ASEAN Culture House, we will push forward with our initiatives aimed at delivering success in the global market going forward.”
Meanwhile, Dexter Studios has recently been flexing its muscles in the “digital heritage” business, which involves both producing and preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage resources in the form of immersive digital content and also offering a fresh perspective to modern audiences. In June of last year, the company worked with the Cultural Heritage Administration’s Palace Relics Headquarters to launch the “Joseon Royal Tombs VR” program that allows users to freely explore royal tombs at Seolleung, Yungneung, Sungneung, and Mongneung in a VR space. Later on, in August, Dexter Studios worked with another government institution – the National Museum of Korea – to recreate an 8-panel folding screen from the late Joseon Dynasty as media art. At the moment, the company – along with municipal governments at Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongju-si – has its eyes on “Project Gyerim.” Anticipation is building as to what innovative and interesting content the project may deliver.
