The Atlas of Maritime Buddhism

2021 Ongoing I Visualization Research Centre, HKBU

Project Overview

The Atlas of Maritime Buddhism is a showcase project designed to preserve and explore cultural heritage, mapping the spread of Buddhism across Eurasian seaports. It emphasizes the role of maritime regions in Buddhist trade networks throughout Asia. In the immersive 360-degree interactive environment, a simulated ocean landscape surrounds the viewer with seven regions—India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand—each represented by a floating flag. Selecting a flag initiates a virtual journey, allowing viewers to immerse themselves in iconic Buddhist landmarks.

The experience centres around 140 stereographic panoramic images of Buddhist temples, geo-located within their respective regions. As viewers approach these panoramic images, they expand to fill the VE screen, offering an immersive view of each temple's architecture and surrounding landscapes. These assets, featuring exclusive 360-degree photography and videography, authentically document significant Buddhist sites and ceremonies, meticulously captured by project researchers along these maritime routes.

Technical Narrative

The project features a sophisticated interactive navigation system that enables viewers to explore these Buddhist landscapes freely. Users can experience immersive panoramas, stereoscopic images, and videos of Buddhist ceremonies, bringing each site to life in detailed 3D. Additionally, the project includes hundreds of 3D photogrammetric models of Buddhist sculptures, displayed in country-specific panoramas, adding another layer of depth to the cultural exploration.

The intelligent narrative system, powered by metadata organization, facilitates personalized interactions with each asset. This system allows viewers to delve into specific architectural, iconographic, and cultural details within each panorama. It dynamically connects related sites, weaving their historical and cultural stories together. By selecting themes of interest, viewers can reconfigure the panoramas in real time, enabling cross-cultural and cross-regional comparisons for a uniquely educational and customizable journey through these interconnected Buddhist sites.

第一部分：項目概述

《海上佛教圖譜》是一個旨在保存與探索文化遺產的展示項目，地圖式地呈現佛教通過歐亞海港傳播的歷史，突顯了亞洲海洋地區在佛教貿易網絡中的重要地位。在互動式的可視化環境（VE）中，模擬的海洋場景圍繞著七個區域——印度、斯里蘭卡、柬埔寨、中國、印尼、緬甸和泰國，每個區域都以一面浮動的旗幟代表。點擊旗幟，觀眾便可進入虛擬之旅，沉浸於標誌性的佛教地標之中。

此體驗的核心是140張佛教寺廟的立體全景圖像，按地理位置分佈在各區域內。當觀眾接近這些全景圖像時，圖像會在VE屏幕上展開，提供每座寺廟建築及周圍景觀的身臨其境之感。這些資源，包括360度全景攝影與錄像，均由項目研究員精心拍攝，記錄了這些海上路線上的重要佛教遺址與儀式。

第二部分：技術敘述

本項目配備了先進的互動導航系統，使觀眾能夠自由探索這些佛教景觀。用戶可體驗沉浸式全景、立體圖像以及佛教儀式的影片，讓每個遺址的細節在3D效果中栩栩如生。此外，該項目還包括數百個佛教雕塑的3D模型，在各國的全景中展示，進一步豐富了文化探索的深度。

智能敘事系統基於元數據組織，為每個資源提供個性化互動。此系統允許觀眾深入探索每個全景中的特定建築、圖像與文化細節，並動態連結相關遺址，交織其歷史與文化故事。通過選擇感興趣的主題，觀眾可以實時重新配置全景畫面，實現跨文化、跨區域的比較，帶來獨特的教育體驗與量身定制的佛教遺址探索之旅。