A rendering of a 3D mapping show on a historical building on Zhongshan Road in Shinan district, Qingdao [Photo/WeChat account: qdweishinan]

Can you imagine traveling to a historical block with your private virtual tour guide and experiencing history at each site through augmented reality (AR) technology?

This is in the process of becoming true as Shinan district in Qingdao is building China's first metaverse project in the urban historical block.

The project will utilize digital twin, big data, cloud computing, block chain, AR and MR (Mixed Reality) to build an online virtual urban scenario that can realize smart traveling functions including ticket booking, shopping and traveling.

Products consisting of high-quality AR short videos, virtual city images, virtual consumption and creative cultural products, as well as offline programs such as immersive dining, nighttime tours, bazaars and performances will also be launched.

"Culture is the core of the old urban area and can offer ample contents to build the metaverse," said Zhou Anbin, chairman of one of the project's digital solution providers.

The first phase of the project takes Zhongshan Road as the main axis and covers Yinyu Lane and Dabaodao. A naked-eye 3D creative screen, immersive nighttime tour and an urban memory museum will be introduced to the public in July.

"It is meant to revitalize the Zhongshan Road historical block with creativity and technology," said Zhang Zhidong, a senior official of the Shinan district's bureau of historical block protection and development.

The project is also expected to boost the digital technology industry in the old town, Zhang added.

The 6.3-square-kilometer core area of the historical block is covered with a 5G network and boasts a variety of business formats involving commerce, history and culture, and tourism.

"We can provide more application scenarios for high-end technologies such as VR. We are going to introduce the upstream and downstream industrial chains and more high-caliber workers to boost the old town's development," Zhang said.