Naver Labs has unveiled a virtual reality (VR) service that recreates the Kansong Art Museum’s exhibition spaces and cultural heritage as a digital twin, allowing viewing regardless of time and place.

Naver Labs and the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation said on Thursday they will provide a "VR Tour" service that lets users view the Kansong Art Museum’s exhibition spaces and key items in its collection in a virtual environment.

The service recreates the Kansong Art Museum’s "Bohwagak" exhibition space and works displayed in the "Munhwaboguk" exhibition by building them as a digital twin. Users can move through the space along the actual visitor route and select exhibits to check descriptions for each work. It is available on PC and mobile through the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation website.

The Kansong Art Museum was previously viewable mainly during regular spring and autumn exhibition periods, but the VR tour allows users to view key items in the collection regardless of exhibition dates.

Artifacts that have left the museum have also been preserved in digital form. The "Qing dynasty stone lion statue" donated to China in July was implemented as 3D data, and the outdoor "Goesan octagonal stupa-shaped Buddhist reliquary" and "stone octagonal monk pagoda" were also made viewable in the virtual space.

Naver Labs used its in-house vision technology to create digital twins of the museum space and exhibits. The method can 3D map spaces and objects using only a smartphone camera, without a separate ultra-precision scanner.

The company has applied such spatial intelligence technology to cultural spaces. Since 2022, it has operated an augmented reality (AR) navigation service at the National Museum of Korea, and it has also used related technology for Naver Map's "FlyingView3D," which allows users to view major locations such as Cheomseongdae Observatory in Gyeongju in 360 degrees.

FlyingView3D uses "Novel View Synthesis (NVS)" technology, which reconstructs 3D scenes from unshot viewpoints based on photos. The technology was also used to produce an urban explosion scene for the Disney+ series "Polaris."

Entries for the Kansong Art Museum photo contest, which runs through Sept. 23, will also be displayed in the VR tour space.

Lee Dong-hwan (이동환), leader of Naver Labs' Vision Group, said the museum's cultural heritage has been recreated in a digital space using spatial intelligence technology, enabling anyone to view it without constraints of time and place. He said the company will continue to advance digital twin, positioning and 3D reconstruction technologies to connect real-world spaces and objects digitally.