[New Wave] Another Innovation: Contactless Communication in the Pandemic Era

Since the beginning of the year, the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which caused a global pandemic, has demanded many changes different from before across our society. Various methods to prevent the spread of infection and ensure quarantine are being tried in educational and sports settings as well as all leisure facilities. One of these is the non-face-to-face (untact) communication method. Non-face-to-face communication refers to a way of communicating without directly facing the other person's face, unlike traditional face-to-face interpersonal communication, without hindering communication.

With the exact timing of the complete end of COVID-19 hard to predict, many organizations have recently begun to introduce new and diverse non-face-to-face communication methods. A particularly good example of non-face-to-face communication using innovative technology is the National Museum of Korea’s online exhibition hall and the introduction of immersive museum experiences.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and in accordance with government quarantine policies, the National Museum has been closed indefinitely but added features allowing anyone to view artifacts from the permanent exhibition hall or past special exhibitions through online virtual reality (VR). When selecting major artifacts, a simple explanation is also provided. Not only simple artworks or artifacts but also the exhibition preparation process and exhibition content are introduced through videos. Additionally, programs such as the history and culture classes and special exhibition-linked lectures, which had been continuously conducted but temporarily suspended due to COVID-19, as well as cultural content featuring prominent social figures and cultural artists invited to select cultural heritage and artifacts themselves and appreciate them with explanations from museum curators, have been produced as videos.

These contents are provided through online platforms to be publicly shared and accessed comfortably and easily at home, fostering historical and cultural literacy and the enjoyment of cultivating humanities knowledge. Furthermore, in an environment where visiting museums is difficult, voluntary participatory events such as the 'e-Museum Curator Contest,' which encourages visitors to explore our cultural heritage and curate exhibitions online themselves, have been planned, receiving positive evaluations as innovative attempts at online interactive communication and participation.

Meanwhile, since the commercialization of 5th generation (5G) mobile communication, immersive content based on technology that stimulates human senses to enhance immersion has been spotlighted as a core service that consumers can enjoy most easily and enjoyably in a 5G environment, as well as a promising industry expected to create a large-scale market.

The National Museum of Korea has created a 'Digital Immersive Video Hall' in four permanent exhibition spaces by applying technologies such as augmented reality (AR), VR, high-resolution video, and exterior wall video (media facade), which combine 5G and cultural technology (CT) and have been put into practical use at exhibition sites. This provides new appearances and experiences of our cultural heritage, attracting many visitors both online and offline and receiving great responses from viewers.

It is important to note that various aspects of cultural heritage, which cannot be directly seen face-to-face, are being disseminated through immersive museum exhibition content and communicated in real time. The government has announced a pan-government strategy to foster the immersive content industry through initiatives such as the 'Three Major Innovation Strategies for the Content Industry' in 2019 and is boldly investing to create groundbreaking private demand in the early-stage immersive content market. In this context, online immersive content is expected to be utilized as an innovative alternative to address the challenges posed by non-face-to-face communication methods brought about by COVID-19.

Jeong Won-jun, Associate Professor, Department of Media Communication, University of Suwon

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.