Museums in HCM City are using smart technology to offer online displays as part of their effort to develop business amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The HCM City Museum of Vietnamese History has launched an online exhibition with 3D technology, smart apps and websites with the aim of expanding the museum’s activities and showcases to the public.

“With digital technology, viewers can see connections between objects and contexts, and visualise and learn about historical periods and culture through space and time,” said Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan, the museum’s director.

“We are working to build the museum as an interactive museum by using modern technology applications to convey the most effective content and information.”

Last week, the museum opened an online exhibition of ancient artefacts, paintings and scluptures from the collection of Victor Thomas Holbe, a French pharmacist who worked in South Vietnam in the 1920s.

The objects from China, Japan, India and Vietnam were made in the late 18th and 19th centuries from stone, gem, ivory and ceramics.

The exhibition also introduces antiques of Oc Eo culture, a rich culture of the ancient kingdom of Phu Nam which was first discovered in 1944 via artefacts found at sites near Ba The Mountain, now Oc Eo Town in Thoai Son District in An Giang Province.

Artefacts of Oc Eo culture are valued as significant historical documents and evidence of a prosperous culture.

The HCM City Museum of History was built by the French colonialists in 1929. It is located on 3,000 square metres and displays more than 40,000 artefacts. It organises cultural activities and art shows on Vietnamese history and culture.

The displays consist of two main parts. The first exhibits artefacts of Vietnamese history dating from the prehistoric era to the end of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), the country’s last royal family; and the history of southern VietNam and other Asian countries.

The Southern Women’s Museum in HCM City has also launched new exhibition rooms that use a smart museum mobile app.

Guests can install the Bo Tang PNNB app on IOS or Android devices and explore the photos on display.

When a photo or an object is within one metre from a visitor, the app will show images and information, allowing the museum to provide more in-depth information.

The app also provides information about well-known historical figures, historical background and video clips, giving visitors a better understanding of the works.

“The smart museum app acts as an electronic guide in different languages. Through the app on smartphones or tablets, the system accurately locates where visitors are standing and displays information about nearby objects in an animated micro image. It also helps to minimise the work of the tour guide while creating a modern, friendly exhibition environment,” said the museum’s deputy director Nguyen Thi Hien Linh.

VIET NAM NEWS/ANN