Recently, the Xinjiang station open day of Tencent’s “the Tanyuan Program 2024” co-creation camp was held in Kuqa. The event focused on the needs of identifying smoke-stained murals in the Kizil Grottoes and AI-based virtual restoration of damaged murals, promoting enhanced technical effectiveness, optimized platform applications, and the exploration of cultural revitalization for this co-creation project. Experts in cultural heritage conservation, culture, and technology from across the country, along with local leaders from Xinjiang, gathered to witness the Kizil Grottoes regain their brilliance in the digital age.
With the support of Tencent’s “the Tanyuan Program 2024,” Chengdu Miji Technology Co., Ltd. joined hands with the School of Electronic Science and Engineering at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) and the School of Art and Archaeology at Zhejiang University to contribute to the restoration of the Kizil Grottoes murals. The project employs a multimodal fusion technology combining a robotic arm, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to perform non-destructive testing and image recognition on the smoke-stained murals of Cave 161 at the Kizil Grottoes.
Terahertz waves possess strong penetrability, safety, and other excellent characteristics, drawing widespread attention in recent years, and hold great potential in the non-destructive testing of cultural relics. The strong penetrability and non-destructive identification features of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy enable it to penetrate the soot layer without damaging the mural, extract color layer information from the covered mural, and fully identify the hidden painting, thus providing diversified means for cultural heritage conservation.
During the event, Professor Zhang Hui, Director of the Department of Archaeology and Museology at Zhejiang University, disclosed breakthrough results achieved by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in identifying smoke-stained murals. Notably, this marks the first time worldwide that multimodal fusion technology integrating terahertz, XRF, and structured light has been practically applied to extract hidden information from precious cultural relics. The application of this technology not only opens a new path for the conservation of the Kizil Grottoes but also provides highly valuable technical references and innovative ideas for the preservation of other cultural heritage sites.
With the support of technology, the identification of smoke-stained murals and the AI virtual restoration of damaged murals at the Kizil Grottoes are progressing steadily. It is believed that through the joint efforts of all parties, the murals of the Kizil Grottoes will shine anew in the digital age, allowing future generations to appreciate the artistic charm from a thousand years ago and ensuring that these precious cultural heritages are passed down forever.
Source: Official website of Chengdu Miji Technology Co., Ltd. View original article