Da Nang’s heritage goes digital

New ways to “remember” heritage

For many years, traditional preservation methods, including paper dossiers, photographs, and archived drawings, have revealed major limitations. In particular, they are easily damaged, difficult to share, and almost impossible to rely on for restoration once a site is damaged. Today, digital technology, especially 3D digitization, has fundamentally reshaped how heritage is documented and remembered.

Advanced applications such as laser scanning, 3D graphics, and data virtualization make it possible to recreate historical sites with near-perfect accuracy. The advantage of this approach lies not only in its increasingly affordable cost, but also in its ability to integrate images, sound, and space, creating a visual experience far superior to traditional approaches.

Once digitized, a heritage site can be replicated endlessly and shared with the media, researchers and the public. More importantly, it can serve as a critical data source for restoration in the event of loss or damage caused by natural disasters or conflict.

The world has already surpassed Vietnam in this field with the involvement of non-profit organizations such as CyArk, which preserves digital data for more than 200 heritage sites across continents.

In Vietnam, landmarks such as the Tomb of Tu Duc, Hoa Khiem Palace, An Dinh Palace, and the Hanoi Opera House have been included in the Google Arts & Culture Open Heritage Library, setting an important precedent for digital-based preservation.

With its diverse system of museums and historical sites, Da Nang is fully capable of joining this process. The 3D digitization of Cham artifacts, urban architectural works, and even disappearing cultural spaces such as fishing villages, craft villages and riverside communal houses is not just an act of preservation, but a way of preserving urban memories for future generations.

Telling stories in new ways

Digitization also brings with it new approaches to storytelling. Mobile applications with multilingual automated audio guides allow visitors to access heritage information at their own pace, independent of opening hours or tour guides. This creates more personalized, engaging and convenient experiences, particularly for international visitors.

Beyond museums, digital technology is opening new doors for research and archaeology. Drones and Lidar technology have been widely deployed at many heritage sites around the world to “see through” vegetation and identify remains hidden underground. This presents valuable opportunities for research institutions, including those in Da Nang, to collaborate with international partners and deepen understanding of heritage values.

Bringing heritage into the digital space is not just a passing trend but a long-term strategy. When heritage is digitized and retold in the language of the digital age, it becomes a shared asset of society, thereby continuing to live, be understood, and protected in an increasingly digitized world.