Technology

Wat Arun Beyond Reality Step into a Virtual Journey Like Never Before

Published

1 year ago

March 14, 2025

BANGKOK, March 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In a bid to promote cultural tourism, a team led by researchers from Chulalongkorn University has incorporated cutting-edge Virtual Reality (VR) technology to bring Wat Arun to life. Through the “Temple of Dawn VR Game” project, visitors can explore exclusive, restricted areas of the temple and appreciate the historical, cultural, and architectural beauty of one of Thailand’s most prominent landmarks.

Wat Arun VR Game: Revealing Unseen Experiences

Among Thailand’s iconic landmarks, Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of Dawn, holds immense cultural and historical significance. The temple’s mesmerizing corn-shaped stupa rises dramatically from the bank of Chao Phraya River, captivating all who visit.

“Wat Arun is one of the major landmarks I usually bring foreign friends and international guests to visit. Many were impressed when I shared the temple’s historical and cultural details. This made me realize that without a guide, many tourists would miss enticing information about the temple’s history and architecture,” shared Dr. Ratchaneekorn Ratchatakorntrakoon, researcher at the Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University.

As the mastermind behind the project, Dr. Ratchaneekorn hopes the VR game will enrich visitors’ experiences while promoting learning and cultural tourism.

A New Perspective Through Virtual Reality

Building on her previous experience in creating VR applications at Chulalongkorn University’s Memorial Hall, Dr. Ratchaneekorn recognized VR technology’s potential to revolutionize storytelling.

“This project aims to provide an immersive storytelling experience, bringing the temple’s stories and heritage to life,” she explained.

According to the project’s tagline, “Reveal Unseen Experiences”, the Temple of Dawn VR Game allows tourists exclusive access to areas typically off-limits. These include:

The top of the central corn-shaped stupa The interiors of the directional pavilions housing Buddha images A bird’s-eye view of Wat Arun, offering new perspectives on its intricate architecture

The project employs cutting-edge 3D scanning technology to recreate a virtual space of Wat Arun, enabling users to:

Explore restricted areas Learn about the stupa’s architecture Discover stories of Buddha’s life depicted within the temple

Overcoming Challenges: Technology Meets Tradition

Dr. Ratchaneekorn identified two key challenges in developing the Temple of Dawn VR Game:

Technical Limitations: Large 3D files slowed development process. The engineering team had to compress files and adjust textures for compatibility. Cultural Understanding: Tourists unfamiliar with Thai cultural norms sometimes behaved inappropriately at the temple.

Despite these challenges, the project was successfully completed and had been introduced to tourists for trial. “Tourists gave positive feedback during the testing phase, appreciating the opportunity to engage with Wat Arun in previously unavailable ways,” Dr. Ratchaneekorn noted.

How to Play: The Temple of Dawn VR Game

Designed as a multi-player game, The Temple of Dawn VR experience mirrors real-life tourist dynamics, as visitors often come in pairs or groups. Solo visitors can team up with on-site project coordinators.

The Temple of Dawn VR game includes four sub-games:

The Old Sermon Hall (Vihan-Noi) The Old Ordination Hall (Ubosot-Noi) The Directional Pavilions The Central Prang

Each sub-game includes an introduction, game rules, missions to accomplish, knowledge gained, and knowledge summaries.

Each game session lasts approximately 5-7 minutes. Players can choose one or multiple sub-games. After completing the VR experience, visitors return the document.

Educational Opportunities and Cultural Impact

Dr. Ratchaneekorn concluded that the Temple of Dawn VR Game provides significant educational and cultural benefits:

For Tourists: Enhances their understanding of Thai culture and encourages respectful behavior in temples. For Tour Guides: Equips guides with deeper insights to enrich visitor experiences. For Students: Supports academic research and offers practical experience in VR development. For Society: Serves as an educational tool to explore the biography of the Lord Buddha.

Looking Ahead: A Sustainable Cultural Asset

The final version of the VR application will be soon handed over to Wat Arun. Plans are underway to train temple staff on system operation. Although set to be available for visitors this November, access to the VR game may initially be limited due to the high cost of VR headsets and specialized equipment.

“Our long-term goal is to make this innovative tool a sustainable asset that preserves cultural heritage while engaging a global audience,” said Dr. Rachaneekorn.

For more information about the Temple of Dawn VR game, contact: Dr. Ratchaneekorn Ratchatakorntrakoon at ratchaneekorn.r@chula.ac.th or the Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University at 02-218-7494.

Read the full article at https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/218322/

About Chulalongkorn University

Chulalongkorn University has made the world’s top 50 university list for employment outcomes, which reflects both the high employment rate and work ability of Chula graduates. The university is also listed as the best in Thailand for the 15th Consecutive Year (since 2009), according to the newly released QS World University Rankings 2024, putting Chula at 211th in the world, up from 244th last year.

Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChulalongkornUniversity
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/chulauniversity
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/school/15101896/

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SOURCE Chulalongkorn University

Technology

Trip.com Group Sincerely Accepts Administrative Penalty Decision Issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China

Published

2 hours ago

July 25, 2026

SINGAPORE, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Trip.com Group Limited (Nasdaq: TCOM; HKEX: 9961) today announced that it has received the administrative penalty decision issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China.

Trip.com Group sincerely accepts the decision and will adopt rectification measures in accordance with applicable laws and regulations to implement the decision’s requirements. The Company will strengthen its long-term governance mechanisms and strive to contribute to the sustainable development of the travel industry.

Trip.com Group’s management team will host a conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on July 27, 2026 (or 8:00 PM Hong Kong Time on July 27, 2026).

The conference call will be available on Webcast live at: http://investors.trip.com.

All participants must pre-register to join this conference call using the participant registration link below:
https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIb78e08d8f18340c4882a7e4ab961906b.

Upon registration, each participant will receive details for this conference call, including dial-in numbers and a unique access PIN. To join the conference, please dial the number provided, enter your PIN, and you will join the conference instantly.

For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Trip.com Group Limited
Email: iremail@trip.com

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SOURCE Trip.com Group Limited

Technology

NAVER Partners with Brookfield and NVIDIA to Expand Korea’s National AI Factory Infrastructure Buildout

Published

4 hours ago

July 25, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NAVER, Brookfield and NVIDIA announced an expansion of Korea’s sovereign AI factory infrastructure. New investments will increase the initial NVIDIA DSX™ AI factory deployment from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts.

Announced during Korea President Jae Myung Lee’s AI Summit visit to San Francisco, the planned 200-megawatt expansion will be built with the NVIDIA DSX platform at NAVER’s GAK Sejong hyperscale data center in Sejong, South Korea. The expanded infrastructure will provide Korea- and U.S.- based AI innovators with access to production-scale AI compute for building next-generation models, agents and AI-powered services.

Under the terms of the agreements, Brookfield will fund up to $9 billion as the exclusive capital partner, NVIDIA will invest $1 billion and NAVER will fund the remaining amount to finance the $10 billion project.

This builds on NAVER’s June announcement to extend its GAK Sejong data center with NVIDIA DSX, with a long-term path to gigawatt-scale sovereign AI infrastructure serving Korea’s enterprises, industries, government organizations and global AI cloud customers. Combining Brookfield’s capital with NVIDIA’s computing platform, the investment supports NAVER’s AI factory deployment.

“NVIDIA’s strategic investment and our infrastructure supply agreement with Brookfield have propelled NAVER’s vision for the AI Factory business into a robust execution phase,” said Haejin Lee, Founder and Chairman of NAVER. “Leveraging the solid partnerships with our global partners, we will drive technological innovation, foster a sovereign AI ecosystem, and spearhead efforts to strengthen South Korea’s AI competitiveness.”

AI Factory Expansion and Open Model Collaboration to Fuel AI Innovators

NAVER, as an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, provides deep expertise in operating hyperscale infrastructure powered by the full-stack NVIDIA AI platform. The 200-megawatt AI factory, featuring NVIDIA Vera Rubin and Blackwell platforms, will establish a dedicated resource pool for emerging AI companies, providing the compute, software and support needed to develop and deploy competitive AI models and applications at scale.

This expanded infrastructure also builds on NAVER and NVIDIA’s collaboration on open model development for agentic and physical AI. NAVER is advancing its HyperCLOVA X models to be based on NVIDIA Nemotron™ 3 Ultra open models with its proprietary data and training expertise. NAVER is also the first Korean company to join the NVIDIA Nemotron Coalition, contributing to open model development across pretraining, post-training and reinforcement learning.

NAVER plans to launch an AI agent platform in Korea in the second half of the year, powered by NVIDIA Agent Toolkit software including NVIDIA NemoClaw™ blueprints. NAVER is also developing a Seoul World Model using proprietary urban street-view and spatial modeling data, built on NVIDIA Cosmos™ world foundation models.

About NAVER

Founded in 1999, NAVER is Korea’s largest Internet company and one of the world’s top tech companies. Leading cutting-edge technologies, NAVER operates the No.1 search engine in Korea and holds various business portfolios encompassing commerce, fintech, cloud, AI and robotics.

NAVER recorded sales of KRW 12.04 trillion (USD 8.18 billion) in 2025. TEAM NAVER continues to enhance its business portfolio and expand its global presence across Japan, North America, and Europe, while pursuing innovation through continuous research and development in future technologies.

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SOURCE NAVER

Technology

Beijing Review: Walking Through Time: China and U.S. Youths Explore Dali’s Past and Future

Published

4 hours ago

July 25, 2026

BEIJING, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On July 17, a China-U.S. youth delegation came to Dali of Yunnan Province. By examining how Dali’s rich history intersects with modern development, the delegates explored new pathways for rural development.

They visited Dali Old Town, tried their hand at making the Bai people’s Three-Course Tea and also explored the ancient town of Xizhou, where they learned how modern tourism and indigenous life coexist.

In Yunnanyi Village, they explored its history as a stop along the Tea Horse Road and learned about the role it played during the Second World War (WWII).

Tyler James Smith

“I think it’s a very underappreciated part of World War II history. Hearing these stories of different countries working together despite cultural differences is incredibly inspiring.

I also think there are many stories like these that haven’t been widely told, simply because World War II is such a complex period in history. That’s why I think it’s so meaningful to visit museums like this and experience these stories firsthand.”

At Xiangyun Economic and Technological Development Zone, they visited a local new energy company to see how green, low-carbon development is driving regional growth.

Valerie Marie

“I recently started studying energy transitions. I know China has been really big in the renewable energy sector. So actually getting to hear more about [China’s] 2060 [pledge], learning more about carbon neutrality [goals], as well as other zero-carbon goals, was cool.”

During their stay in Dali, they also strolled along the Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor.

Bai Yiwen

“I’d describe this journey as “to be continued,” because my own connection with Yunnan is far from over. For the U.S. delegates, this was only their first visit, so they’ve only had a glimpse of what Yunnan has to offer. I hope they will have more opportunities to come back to China, explore other cities in Yunnan, and discover even more of its people, culture and traditions.”

After Dali, the delegates will visit Beijing for more tours and exchanges. The event was co-hosted by China International Communications Group (CICG) Center for the Americas and the U.S.-based International Student Conferences.

https://x.com/beijingreview/status/2080104404552663067?s=46&t=yfVMVdMyE2zKAFrYaLoV-g

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EtGCCKzy4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.tiktok.com/@cachinachic/video/7665536913532587294?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7227134149436605995

https://youtu.be/jGONWTqwduc?is=KfL-Zn3HyVYE-KEm

Contact: Jiaweibellapeng@163.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beijing-review-walking-through-time-china-and-us-youths-explore-dalis-past-and-future-302834587.html

SOURCE Beijing Review