This seminar will explore the Virtual Mountain Estate (VME) project, exploring how 3D modelling and XR technologies can critically reconstruct cultural landscapes. Centred on the Qing imperial park-palace of Bishu shanzhuang 避暑山莊—the Mountain Estate to Escape the Summer Heat—around 1713, VME draws upon diverse sources: poems by the Kangxi emperor (r. 1661–1722) and their annotations, woodblock illustrations, architectural plans, archival research on interiors, and visual comparisons with contemporaneous landscapes. This range of historical evidence underpins reconstructions that combine more definitive interpretations with informed speculations (or “plausible fictions”) where documentation is lacking.

Rooted in the concept of “X-Sheds,” or “experience-sheds,” the project extends the idea of a “viewshed” to encompass subjective, culturally mediated experiences. Three central “scenes,” or jing (景), drawn from the Kangxi emperor’s set of thirty-six describing the landscape of Bishu shanzhuang, form the core of this exploration. Each jing merges sensory perception, poetic reflection, and emotional engagement, offering a window into premodern Chinese landscape appreciation. Short textual introductions and poems describe the physical settings alongside Kangxi’s personal responses, while woodblock illustrations serve as early forms of remediation and virtualisation.

By moving beyond simple description and narration, VME employs iterative 3D modelling to integrate sensory, spatial, and atmospheric cues—lighting, soundscapes, and vantage points—into a dynamic, immersive environment. Users can navigate a VR interface, actively shaping their interpretive engagement with each scene. This method foregrounds the subjective and ephemeral qualities of historical landscapes, emphasising multivalence rather than any definitive reconstruction.

The seminar will discuss the methodologies, processes, challenges and implications of this critical historical reconstruction, highlighting how XR-based tools can expand our interpretation and understanding of cultural heritage. Ultimately, the VME demonstrates the potential of collaborative and participatory interpretations that unite empirical evidence with subjective and imaginative possibilities.

Speaker's Info:

• Hedren Sum, Postdoctoral Research Fellow for Digital Humanities, Department of English, Linguistics, and Theatre Studies, National University of Singapore

Hedren Sum is an interdisciplinary scholar specialising in digital approaches, ontology-based frameworks, knowledge organisation systems and immersive technologies to transform cultural heritage interpretation and engagement. Hedren’s work bridges art history, information science, and cultural heritage, exploring how XR and AI redefine historical content analysis and experience. He has collaborated on international projects and presented his work globally, including across Southeast Asia, the UK, Australia, the US, and the United Nations Geneva. Formerly at NTU Institute of Science and Technology for Humanity (NISTH), he led strategic initiatives fostering interdisciplinary research to address complex societal challenges. His diverse roles, including as a digital scholarship librarian and Head of Content and Technology at HOL Experiences, a leading UX consultancy, reflect his commitment to advancing research and public engagement through digital methodologies. Hedren earned his PhD in Art, Design, and Media (Art History) from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and is dedicated to expanding Digital Humanities through research, teaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

• Stephen Whiteman, Reader in the Art and Architecture of China, The Courtauld

Stephen Whiteman is a specialist in the visual and spatial cultures of early modern and modern China. His work explores the intersections of landscape with ethnic, social, and national identities; transcultural interchange and connected histories of art; and the use of digital methods in art history, among other themes. He is author and editor of eight volumes, including Landscape and Authority in the Early Modern World (Penn, 2023) and the award-winning Where Dragon Veins Meet: The Kangxi Emperor and His Estate at Rehe (Washington, 2020). With support from the Getty Foundation, the British Academy, and others, he has helped led collaborative research initiatives around the world, seeking to expand the study of Asian art through connection and dialogue.