A visitor skis with the help of virtual reality equipment in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, on 12 February (XINHUA)

Exploring an ancient building in an exhibition hall, enjoying a 360-degree video, skating in front of a big screen in the middle of summer... All of these are made possible by the advanced technology of virtual reality (VR), which constructs an artificial environment with scenes and objects that look like real, making people feel they are immersed in it. Using a VR headset, users can enjoy a variety of experiences in gaming, entertainment, socialising or other activities. 

In recent years, VR has gradually been integrated into various fields, especially culture, tourism, and sports. The chain of the VR industry is long and includes hardware, software and content. According to a white paper published by the China Centre for Information Industry Development (CCID), the scale of the VR industry in China will exceed 250 billion yuan ($36 billion) in 2025. As a technology that many industries and sectors are using to digitally transform themselves, VR is finding accelerated application on a large scale in China.   

New forms of tourism 

An immersive digital exhibition amazed Lu Yumin, a resident of Chaoyang District in Beijing, during the Labour Day holiday. The exhibition used digital technology, including VR, to showcase the Terra-Cotta Warriors, a historical site in Xi’an in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, offering Beijing residents the chance to see it without leaving the city. Lu told ChinAfrica that modern technology transcends the boundaries of time and space, allowing her to view the relics and monuments up close. Equipped with a VR headset, she also “climbed” the Beijing Drum Tower and saw the residences of prominent figures in ancient times while listening to explanations transmitted by the equipment. “I have visited the site several times before, but this is the first time I have been able to see the area up close,” she said.  

Virtual reality has become a keyword in the development of the culture and tourism sectors. Thanks to this advanced technology, a visit to the Lantern Festival activities at the Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai is no longer limited to the month when the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival are celebrated.

With a pair of glasses strapped to their heads, visitors can experience a “real” landscape in a dream world at any time. VR helps to overcome constraints such as the long distance to sites, and offers a great perspective and potential for the development of the culture and tourism sectors. 

Since 2022, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the VR industry development and has issued certain guidelines to promote the healthy development of the sector. In October last year, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Action Plan for the Integration and Development of Virtual Reality and Industrial Applications (2022-2026), which stipulates that virtual reality will be widely used in major economic and social sectors by 2026, and that a number of enterprises and industrial groups with relatively strong international competitiveness will emerge. The action plan predicts that the total size of the VR industry in China will reach 350 billion yuan ($51 billion) by 2026. 

Wen Xiaojun, director of the Electronic Information Research Institute under CCID, said VR will be widely used in many cultural fields, such as the restoration of historical sites and heritage, the presentation of relics and monuments, tourism, and the design of art objects, to name a few. Costs will go down, and the consumer experience will improve.  

Doing sport differently 

The sports sector is an important area for VR application, making sports more accessible and convenient. Digital sports help users to relax and stay fit, especially those who do not like to go outdoors. Among young people, riding a VR bike is very popular. 

At a gym in Beijing, the digital equipment is impressive, from smart punching bags to smart muscle training equipment and VR bikes. Twenty-year-old Zhang Yuan rides his bike while wearing a VR helmet. In front of him, a screen displays the landscape he is looking at through his headset. According to him, the VR bicycle does not require weather, road conditions, or professional equipment. Compared to the real bike, the VR bike has the same training effect but allows for better immersion in the sport. 

From a business perspective, this is a promising market. Founded in 2016, Aiweier, a Chinese company based in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, has seen its turnover increase seven-fold in recent years after a rapid of development. The VR company has a long history of research and development and technological innovation, and holds 110 intellectual property rights. The company is particularly targeting the winter sports sector.  

Heilongjiang is located in northeast China and its ice and snow festival and winter sports resorts enjoy a high reputation nationwide. However, snow is seasonal. The company’s goal is to preserve it for as long as possible. Therefore, it has built the first metaverse ice and snow experience centre, which offers several digital services. According to its director Ma Hongning, they have used VR technology to create a virtual world of ice and snow where visitors can experience the joy of winter sports in all four seasons. 

“VR + sports” is becoming a classic “pair,” whether in the field of competitive sports, such as VR training simulators at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, or in the field of mass fitness, such as VR skate carts or VR video games. According to Man Song, head of the advertising department of Chinese VR R&D and application company Pico Technology, VR makes the concept of “doing sports without leaving home” feasible and brings a new experience to sports professionals or enthusiasts.