Shenzhen's ICIF spotlights AI, mixed reality, and platform-driven innovation in culture sector
SHENZHEN, CN / ACCESS Newswire / May 27, 2025 / China's 21st International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) is underway in Shenzhen, drawing more than 6,200 exhibitors from government agencies, cultural institutions, and enterprises in a hybrid online-offline format. Billed as a bellwether of China's cultural policy and industry trends, this year's fair highlights the country's deepening integration of technology and culture amid a broader digital transformation push.
With the theme "Innovation Shapes Trends, Creativity Lights Up Life," the fair showcases frontier applications in artificial intelligence, immersive experiences, and digital heritage preservation. At the center of attention is "Wen Xiaobo," an AI-powered virtual assistant offering real-time guidance and search services to visitors. A newly launched AI zone features over 60 leading firms - including UBTech and Yuanxiang - mapping out the contours of China's "AI + Culture" ecosystem.
Inside the exhibition halls, displays range from AI-driven manuscript restoration and metaverse tourism simulations to smart robotics and gesture-controlled drones. Humanoid robots act as cultural ambassadors, performing martial arts and classical music, while engaging attendees in Chinese chess - demonstrating advancements in AI decision-making. Smart glasses with real-time translation functions exemplify tools that could reshape cross-cultural communication.
Mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR) installations are crowd favorites. At the X-META park exhibit hosted by Shenzhen's Futian District, visitors don VR headsets to embark on 15-minute immersive expeditions through icy dreamscapes. Meanwhile, the world's first Android-based spatial computing prototype combines MR capabilities with portability and high processing power, with potential applications in education, gaming, and media. In another display, MR headsets enable a towering statue of Ramses II to be virtually reconstructed in real space, as drones maneuver based on hand gestures - creating a dramatic blend of physical and digital environments.
Innovation also extends into cultural preservation. A deep-learning model trained on historical scripts and textures enables high-precision digital reconstruction of ancient texts, including Dunhuang manuscripts - hailed by experts as a milestone in digital heritage work.
Other headline-grabbing debuts include China's first manned autonomous aerial vehicle prototype, pointing to future low-altitude tourism, and a new conversational AI engine designed to simplify software development - potentially ushering in a democratized "citizen developer" era.
As China pushes forward with its digital agenda, the ICIF is emerging as a strategic platform for showcasing technological advances, brokering deals, and exploring the global potential of the nation's cultural exports. More than just a marketplace, the fair invites deeper conversations about cross-sector collaboration, innovation-driven growth, and China's role in shaping a digitally enhanced cultural future. The convergence of culture and technology, industry experts say, is poised to become a key engine of high-quality development and soft power projection in the years ahead.
The fair runs through May 26.
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SOURCE: People's Daily Online USA
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