Conserving and Advancing Cultural Heritage through Digital Technology
©DNP Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. 2021, with the courtesy of the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
Preserving precious cultural properties and artworks while enriching people's new appreciation experiences
Art galleries and museums find themselves in a dilemma—eager to share historically valuable cultural properties and works of art with as many people as possible, yet concerned about potential deterioration from public display. DNP addresses this challenge by combining preservation and disclosure through XR (Extended Reality) content using digital data and high-definition reproductions, offering a novel viewing experience unique to the digital realm.
High-precision photography and data conversion technology
High-precision photography and data conversion technology
Digitizing various objects
©DNP
We meticulously measure and photograph objects, including historical buildings and works of art, with precision, preserving them as digital data. This data serves for hybrid digital and analog expressions, like XR content in virtual spaces and realistic reproductions.
We employ advanced photogrammetry technology, capturing photographs of a single object from various angles to generate detailed 3D data.
©DNP Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. 2021, with the courtesy of the Bibliotheque nationale de France
New viewing experience
Art viewing tool exploring and walking through virtual spaces
Immersive cultural and artistic experiences through virtual reality (VR)
ⓒDNP Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. 2021, with the courtesy of the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
This system enables visitors to explore historical buildings and works of art by wearing a head-mounted display and strolling around the VR space using their own feet. Incorporating real-world elements like handrails enhances the sense of being in the actual environment despite the virtual reality setting. The system broadens the spectrum of art experiences, allowing the viewing of artworks that may be inaccessible up close, such as ceiling paintings, or enjoying them online.
It incorporates redirected walking technology*, introducing a slight discrepancy between the movement in the real world and the movement in the VR space. This creates a realistic sense of movement in confined spaces, resembling extensive movements in a larger VR space.
- Redirected walking technology is a virtual reality locomotion technique to enable people to feel as if they are walking through a spacious virtual environment while actually moving in a small space.
Manipulations applied to the displayed scene forces the user to compensate by reorienting themselves to maintain their intended walking direction in the virtual environment.
Such manipulations cannot be noticed by the user. Letting the user actually walk lessens VR sickness and enables the user to reorient themselves more accurately in the virtual environment.
Development of this technology was supervised by Associate Professor Takuji Narumi and Assistant Professor Keigo Matsumoto of the University of Tokyo’s Kuzuoka-Amemiya-Narumi Lab.
ⓒDNP Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. 2021, with the courtesy of the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
Virtual cube for interest-sparking art viewing
Fostering inquisitive understanding of culture and art
ⓒDNP Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. 2021, with the courtesy of the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
This innovative cube-shaped interface empowers museums and art galleries to showcase works and materials from their collections through diverse perspectives.
DNP's uniquely developed user interface offers visually intuitive representations of the connections between artworks and their explanations within a three-dimensional space.
Reproduction through printing technology
High-definition reproductions of traditional masterpieces
Balancing the preservation and public presentation of cultural assets and artworks
This exceptional reproduction of cultural properties harmonizes exquisite fidelity with durability. It addresses the challenge of balancing the desire to showcase valuable cultural assets widely and the necessity to manage deterioration resulting from such displays.
We authentically reproduce original works by merging high-definition digital technology with traditional craftsmanship. Notably, DNP's patented technology, printing directly on gold leaf, faithfully reproduces artworks with gold-ground elements.
High-definition output technology
Faithfully replicating textures with precision
This technology meticulously reproduces original paintings and illustrations, aiming for color tones that closely resemble the authenticity of the originals. In addition to capturing the precise color tones, we pay careful attention to preserving the brush strokes and textures.
Digital image processing is applied to high-definition digital input data using DNP's dedicated color tables designed for accurate reproductions.
Other featured articles
DNP’s core technologies cultivated from the printing process
Since our founding, DNP has developed its core technologies by incorporating the latest advancements into its proprietary technologies derived from the printing process, and by upgrading and synergizing each of these technologies.
Please feel free to contact us at any time. We are here to answer any questions you may have.