SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Cultural Heritage Workshop
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Date
15 Dec 2025
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Organiser
SIGGRAPH Asia 2025, NVIDIA AI Technology Centre Hong Kong, PolyU-NVIDIA Joint Research Centre
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Time
14:00 - 17:00
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Venue
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Meeting Room S226+S227, Level 2
Speaker
Prof. Tomasz Bednarz
Dr. Charles Cheung
Prof. Eugene Ch’ng
Prof. Henry Duh
Prof. Frank Guan
Dr. Xin Tong
Prof. Xiaoru Yuan
Enquiry
PolyU-NVIDIA Joint Research Centre 27664711 nvidiarc@polyu.edu.hk
Summary
SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Cultural Heritage Workshop
As AI enhances precise relic restoration, XR builds time-transcending immersive scenes, and digital reconstruction enables permanent heritage preservation, tech-humanities synergy opens new avenues for cultural inheritance. In an era of digital-driven cultural transformation, this workshop will gather global explorers to exchange views on digital tech’s application in cultural heritage. It showcases technology’s potential in safeguarding civilisation and revitalising traditions, serving as a cross-disciplinary dialogue bridge for heritage digitalisation.
Dr. Charles Cheung, NVIDIA AI Technology Centre Hong Kong
Dr. Xin Tong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)
Prof. Henry Duh, School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Meeting Room S226+S227, Level 2
Workshop Program
----- Revealing the Invisible: Simulation, Graphics, and AI for Digital Heritage
----- From Spaces to Dimensions: Rethinking Heritage Through XR and AI
----- Cultural Provenance Analysis and Visualization
----- A way to physical AI and digital heritage
15:50 - 16:10 Speaker Topic 4: Prof. Frank Guan
----- AI-Powered XR Technology and Its Applications for Cultural Heritage
----- AI-driven Visual and Narrative Generation for Ancient Chinese Murals and Paintings
----- Interaction and Visualization for Cultural Heritage
Interested participants please register via SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 to secure your seats. At least with an Enhanced access.
Website: https://asia.siggraph.org/2025/
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Tomasz Bednarz
Director of Strategic Researcher Engagement, NVIDIA
Tomasz is the Director of Strategic Researcher Engagement at NVIDIA Corporation. In this capacity, he leads a team focused on engaging with leading researchers and premier research institutions, driving the adoption of cutting-edge NVIDIA software technologies in innovative, computationally intensive projects designed to tackle some of the world’s most complex scientific challenges.
Topic:
Revealing the Invisible: Simulation, Graphics, and AI for Digital Heritage
Abstract:
Science, simulation, and cultural memory are deeply creative pursuits, and artificial intelligence (AI) has long helped us turn complex data into insight, stories, and experiences. AI can now educate and augment experts and audiences alike, helping people work more effectively, explore the past in new ways, and engage more deeply with the worlds of art, science, and culture. This talk will share examples of how scalable computation, advanced graphics, and generative AI unlock new theories, surface hidden patterns, and support high‑fidelity reconstruction of objects, and narratives across creative and cultural domains.
Dr. Charles Cheung
Co-Director of PolyU-NVIDIA Joint Research Centre
Senior Data Scientist and Deputy Director
NVIDIA AI Technology Center HK | NVIDIA
Charles Cheung is a deep learning solution architect at NVIDIA. Before joining NVIDIA, He was a technical manager in a R&D center to lead the machine vision team to develop different solution such as defect inspection, 3D reconstruction and 3D recognition for different industries. He received his PhD in Hong Kong Baptist University in applied mathematics focusing on numerical analysis for partial differential equation and meshless collocation method.
Topic:
A way to physical AI and digital heritage
Abstract:
Generative AI and LLM has been widely adopted for various application. With the power of GenAI, we see that there is some breakthrough in physical AI and the application of digital heritage.
In this talk, we will introduce the latest development of physical AI and how it can be applied to digital heritage development.
Prof. Eugene Ch’ng
Dean, School of Cultrual and Creativity, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University
Director, BNBU Centre for Computational Cultrue and Heritage | NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute
Editor-in-chief, Presence: Virtual and Augmented Reality, MIT Press
Prof. Eugene Ch’ng FSA (FSA) is Dean of BNU-HKBU UIC’s School of Culture and Creativity, founding Director of the Centre for Computational Culture and Heritage and NVIDIA DLI. A leading digital cultural heritage/XR scholar, he edits PRESENCE (MIT Press), founded key labs at Birmingham and UNNC, and advances cultural heritage digital technologies. With 145+ peer-reviewed publications, he is in Stanford’s top 2% most-cited scientists.
Topic:
From Spaces to Dimensions: Rethinking Heritage Through XR and AI
Abstract:
Digital heritage has evolved from early experiments in archaeological computing and museum documentation into a recognised field with international charters, standards, policies, and shared infrastructures. As technology has advanced, it has shifted toward large-scale networked platforms, immersive XR experiences, and AI-driven analysis. Now augmented by XR and generative AI, digital heritage opens technical and abstract dimensions that extend beyond traditional exhibitions and screens. This talk positions VR as an environment that orchestrates information-rich spaces for discovering the past, and for engaging with stories and lived memories. It shows how XR can bridge physical and virtual realms, overcoming the immobility, fragility, and inaccessibility of many heritage sites and objects. It then argues for a framework that integrates technical and abstract dimensions, and explores how moving beyond “presence” can open up possibilities in digital heritage, through human-AI co-ideation workflows with LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek) to prototype immersive experiences that reshape how we communicate heritage experientially.
Prof. Henry Duh
Associate Dean (Global and Industry Engagement), School of Design
Director, Hong Kong PolyU-NVIDIA Joint Research Centre
Director, Hong Kong PolyU Research Centre for Cultural and Art Technology
Director of PolyU Creative Technology Centre (Beijing)
Program Leader, MSc Innovative Multimedia Entertainment
Prof. Henry Duh is PolyU School of Design’s Associate Dean (Global & Industry Engagement), Director of two research centres (PolyU-NVIDIA Joint, Cultural & Art Technology), and Master of Innovative Multimedia Entertainment Programme Leader. A UK BCS/IET Fellow, he specializes in HCI/AR/VR, with academic stints in the US, Singapore, Australia. He partners with CISCO/Oracle/Microsoft on curriculum and job-ready skills, and his research is funded by Singapore’s NRF and Australia’s ARC.
Topic:
Interaction and Visualization for Cultural Heritage
Abstract:
Rapid development of AI technologies gives a new way to re-visit the understanding of cultural and intangible cultural heritage. The talk will present projects embedded with AI for users to explore cultural and societal development with data. Dynamic interaction with immersive environments can enable users to experience cultural heritage for learning, understanding and appreciation.
Prof. Frank Guan
Associate Professor & SIT Fellow, Singapore Institute of Technology
Dr Frank Guan is a professor at Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), specializing in VR/AR/MR and AI. He chaired IEEE ISMAR 2022–2023 and will lead ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2026. With advisory roles at 3 startups and a founded spinoff, he holds awards including IMechE’s Andrew Fraser Prize (2006), SMART Innovation Fellow (2015), and inaugural SIT Fellow (2024). He also judges Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong IDM Smart Nation Award.
Topic:
AI-Powered XR Technology and Its Applications for Cultural Heritage
Abstract:
In recent years, extended reality (XR)—encompassing virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)—has advanced rapidly and found wide-ranging applications across domains such as gaming, entertainment, training, manufacturing, education, and healthcare. As its capabilities continue to grow, XR, especially when combined with artificial intelligence (AI), is increasingly regarded as a cornerstone of next-generation computing platforms.
In this talk, I will share my perspectives and experiences in the developments and applications of AI powered XR technologies. I will highlight some of our recent research and projects that demonstrate how AI empowers XR through intelligent content generation, adaptive interaction, and computational display technologies. Finally, I will discuss how this convergence of XR and AI can enable and benefit cultural heritage.
Dr. Xin Tong
Assistant Professor in the Computational Media and Arts Thrust, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou).
Dr. Xin Tong is an Assistant Professor in the Computational Media and Arts Thrust at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). Her research focuses on human-AI collaboration and intelligent HCI technologies. She has published more than 50 papers in top international HCI conferences and journals. She received grants from NSFC, the Foreign Talent Program, CCF–Lenovo, the Guangzhou City–University Joint Grant and was also awarded the 2025 CCF HCI Technical Committee Early Career Award and the Outstanding Individual Award from the Kunshan Science and Technology Association.
Topic:
AI-driven Visual and Narrative Generation for Ancient Chinese Murals and Paintings
Abstract:
Prof. Xiaoru Yuan
School of Intelligence Science and Technology, Peking University
Executive Deputy Director of the National Engineering Laboratory for Big Data Analysis and Applications
Abstract:
The transformation of research paradigms in the big data era has impacted various disciplines, and visualization and visual analytics—which closely integrate human intelligence with the powerful computational capabilities of machines—play a crucial role in this process. This report presents recent interdisciplinary research conducted by the visualization laboratory in close collaboration with researchers in humanities and social sciences. These studies include the analysis of the evolution of ancient painted pottery patterns, visual exploration of ancient texts, interactive exploration of classical bibliographies, spatio-temporal dissemination of Chinese classics, and comparative exhibition of Chinese and foreign cultural relics through visual analytics. On one hand, these efforts provide scholars in history and culture with new tools to support more efficient exploration and discovery. On the other hand, they offer the general public avenues to understand specialized domain knowledge and inspire new approaches to exhibition design.
