It is our honor to invite Ms Aw Sian, Sally, OBE, DStJ, JP, a renowned and respectable Hong Kong businesswoman and the daughter of the British Raj Burma-born entrepreneur and newspaper proprietor Aw Boon-haw, to be the main speaker for “Culture and Technology Talk – Reconstructing Lost Heritage of Tiger Balm Garden”. Co-organized by Aw Boon Haw Foundation, HSUHK Virtual Reality Centre, HSUHK Centre for Teaching and Learning, HSUHK Department of Art and Design, Chu Hai Collage of Higher Education and HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education, the talk took place at the HSUHK Library on 22 September and attracted more than 50 staff members and students. The theme of the talk was VR-based culture preservation of the Tiger Balm Garden, a Grade I historic residence of the Aw’s family located in Tai Hang.
Ms Sally Aw paid a visit to the Virtual Reality Centre before the talk commenced and experienced the Tiger Balm Garden VR scene, which revisualizes both the interior and exterior of the entire residence. The scene includes pre-defined routes for users to explore the heritage with different themes through checkpoints. Users can also freely select their favorite spots such as the Tiger Pagoda and view them from different angles.
During the talk, Prof. Y. V. Hui, Provost and Vice-President (Academic and Research) of HSUHK, gave his opening remarks and Ms Aw shared on the history, culture and stories of Tiger Balm Garden. Dr. Eugene Wong, Associate Professor and the Director of Virtual Reality Centre, gave a speech on the background, objectives and development of the project. Ms Sally Aw, Dr. Patrick Mok and Dr. Eugene Wong discussed and shared their ideas on reconstructing the Tiger Balm Garden and its lost heritage via Virtual Reality metaverse technologies.
A live VR head-mounted display demonstration was available after the talk so that interested participants can experience the latest development of the Tiger Balm Garden project.
