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| Visitors experiencing Virtual Reality at the Imperial City – Hue Citadel |
To enhance competitiveness and achieve sustainable development, Hue’s cultural and tourism sectors, along with several enterprises, are focusing on implementing digital technology solutions to manage and promote their products and services. These include Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and 3D Mapping, all aimed at providing residents, tourists, and professionals with novel and unique experiences.
Hue Monuments Conservation Centre has digitized many structures, features, and artifacts in 3D format, created digital maps, and applied digital technologies to automate guided tours for visitors. Likewise, works of art are being showcased at the Digital Art Exhibition Center run by Song Platform (now “Song Centre Hue”) on Ba Trieu Street.
In other areas, the utilities offered by Hue-S - developed and upgraded on a Blockchain platform - have helped Hue City establish a notable reputation for its smart urban services for residents and businesses. These tools have also supported the implementation of digital government initiatives and the broader digital transformation within state agencies in recent years.
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| Experiencing Hue’s heritage through Virtual Reality technology |
Blockchain is understood as a chain of data blocks linked together, where each block contains information added to a shared database. Due to its transparency, security, and immutability, Blockchain has been increasingly applied across various sectors in Vietnam, including finance, education, healthcare, agriculture, and real estate.
In the field of arts and culture specifically, Blockchain plays a key role in recording and protecting intellectual property rights for artists, researchers, and related organizations. Particularly, with its secure and durable storage capabilities, it enables long-term digital preservation of audio recordings, videos, documents, and works of art - including Hue traditional music - helping to prevent loss or unauthorized duplication.
According to Tran Nhu Dang Tuyen, M.A., - Vice President of the Union of Science and Technology Associations of Hue City - bringing Hue traditional music onto Blockchain platforms enables visitors to enjoy traditional music performances or immerse themselves in Hue cultural spaces without the need to travel. Moreover, thanks to Blockchain’s ability to generate immutable records, songs, compositions, ceremonial music, folk songs, Hue traditional songs and performances of Huetraditional music can be registered to secure copyrights, prevent unauthorized copying, and ensure transparency in provenance. These measures help broaden the audience base and enhance the economic and cultural value of the heritage.
One of Blockchain’s standout applications is the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) - a type of digital asset that represents an original, irreplaceable work. With NFTs, artists can release audio recordings, images, or even full performances of Hue traditional music as exclusive digital assets, allowing music lovers to access authentic artistic content transparently and own exclusive versions of the works.
Publishing artistic works in the form of NFTs not only contributes to the preservation of heritage but also opens up new avenues for funding performances, exhibitions, or research on Hue traditional music. Furthermore, Blockchain supports the use of smart contracts, allowing artists to receive fair compensation without intermediaries, thereby optimizing revenue and encouraging creative endeavors.
Blockchain technology is one of the foundational platforms for developing the digital economy, including the cultural industry. Under Decision No. 1755/QD-TTg dated September 8, 2016, issued by the Prime Minister on the development of cultural industries through 2030, the application of technology in heritage preservation is a direction that should be seriously studied and implemented due to its promising potentials. Storing audio recordings, videos, and documents related to Huetraditional music via Blockchain allows for the safe and permanent preservation of this heritage in a digital environment. This ensures that the works will not be lost over time and can be accessed by future generations in the long run.
Key institutions and individuals such as Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, Hue Opera and Singing Arts Theater, the Union of Literature and Arts Associations, Hue Intermediate School of Culture and Arts, the Folk Arts Association, the City Stage Artists’ Association, local art clubs, and folk artisans, … have all made valuable contributions in their own ways to the preservation of Huetraditional music.
According to Ms. Dang Thi Quynh Nga, Head of the Traditional Music Department at Hue Intermediate School of Culture and Arts, the school is preserving Hue traditional music through teaching, performing, collecting, and compiling data. Specifically, 70 melodies and compositions (including Hue royal court music, Hue traditional singing and Hue folk singing) have been integrated into the curriculum of Hue traditional instrumentalist training program.
Given today’s trends, combining these ongoing preservation efforts with the application of Blockchain will bring about a breakthrough in safeguarding and promoting Hue traditional music. This combination will enable broader and more sustainable dissemination, while also creating major opportunities for artists, researchers, and the public to engage in the growth of digital culture. To achieve this, strong collaboration and mutual support between government authorities, cultural institutions, and the tech community are essential to elevate the presence of Hue traditional music on the global cultural map.