2024 marked the 25th anniversary of the Sainsbury Institute and as part of the celebrations, an exhibition was held at the Forum in Norwich city centre. This allowed us to share the themes explored in the online Nara to Norwich exhibition with new audiences. A 12m high replica of an Edo-period (1603–1867) watercolour scroll showing Bosatsu Kannon (the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara) from Hase Temple (Hasedera) in Japan formed the centrepiece. The large-scale map displays guided visitors along the Silk Roads, tracing the movement of people, objects and ideas as they made their way to and from Nara and Norwich.
The exhibition received excellent feedback from local audiences, many of whom commented they had not had the opportunity to engage with this field before. A series of chanting performances (o-shomyo) by the Karyōbinga Shōmyō Kenkyūkai, a group of Shingon priests from Japan accompanied the displays.
XR and cultural heritage
The exhibition ran from 20-25 May 2024 and reached in excess of 15,000 visitors.[1] It then moved to the Embassy of Japan in the UK between November 2024 and February 2025. Given the positive reception to the displays and consistent feedback from visitors that they hoped to have more time to explore the exhibition, the project team decided to create a Virtual Reality (VR) version that would be freely and openly accessible online. This built on previous work by the Sainsbury Institute relating to the development of a 3D model of their headquarters in Norwich to be used as a VR exhibition space.
The field of immersive technologies within the heritage sector is rapidly growing and provides a significant opportunity to increase remote accessibility to displays, sites and collections, as well as enhance real time interactions with cultural heritage.[2] Initial studies have shown that Extended Reality (XR) technologies in particular, in comparison to other methods such as VR360 video that do not involve the same immersive technologies, are an effective means of enriching heritage experiences.[3] The potential of these technologies to cross new frontiers in terms of archaeological investigation is also being demonstrated in research by Professor Fujita Haruhiro (Niigata University of International and Information Studies) on Deep Learning models. In March 2025, the Sainsbury Institute were delighted to host Professor Fujita who undertook research into cognitive responses to prehistoric Japanese pottery by using Mixed Reality (MR) to place these artefacts in front of a user through the use of headsets and allow them to explore and respond to the models and scans of Jomon pots (Fujita-sensei’s abstract from our anniversary conference can be found here).
The potential of digital technologies in preserving heritage, particularly that which may be at risk due to conflict or climate change, has also been increasingly explored in recent years.[4] Projects such as Open Heritage (Google Arts and Culture and CyArk) record and make accessible at-risk heritage sites from across the world, with the data available to download for further research.[5] Taking this further, platforms including “Rome Reborn” allow users to explore a model of ancient Rome as it may have once appeared.[6]
This is a rapidly developing field, both in terms of the technologies themselves and the research conducted about the efficacy of them, and it presents many opportunities for exploitation in cultural heritage contexts.
Developing a VR model
Developing a VR version of the exhibition would mean that the core concept of the exhibition —allowing visitors to follow maps across Eurasia being introduced to landscape, objects and people en route—could be articulated to those who could not visit the original exhibition (something which could not be so easily replicated through PDFs or 2D versions). Observant visitors to the exhibition will have noted that maps facing each other in the display were mirrored to show how exhibits in different themes related to each other geographically, which made it all the more important that the digital version of the exhibition could be rendered in a space.
The project team worked with Lateral North to develop this digital version. Steve Colmer, Head of Heritage & Digital Creative, has worked with the Sainsbury Institute on various digital projects over the last few years and led on the build of the VR model:
The Sainsbury Institute asked Lateral North to create a Virtual Reality version of their headquarters – the building at 64 The Close in Norwich, which then could house digital exhibitions and content.
To achieve this Lateral North’s Head of Digital Heritage and long-time friend of the Sainsbury Institute, Steve Colmer spent several days on site taking lots of reference photography, measurements and digital scans. From all this data they captured, they built a textured 3D model replica of the spaces of 64 The Close. They used software called Unreal Engine (which is used for lots of computer games) to create a real-time model that you can explore from a first-person perspective and walk or teleport through the spaces and explore the different rooms.
Lateral North built a high-quality detail model replicating the furnishing of the building and down to the ceramic floor tiles. They initially populated this space with content including a presentation of the Matsuki Bunkyo House in Salem, Massachusetts by Professor Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere which included a 3D cutaway model of the house that Steve had captured in the US using a mini drone in 2022. This model was previewed at the European Association of Japanese Studies conference in Ghent in August 2023, where attendees could try on a virtual reality headset and be transported to the Sainsbury Institute headquarters in Norwich and explore the exhibits within.
We always wanted to expand on this and make the experience more accessible to a wider audience – so after the physical Nara to Norwich exhibition at the Forum in Norwich, the team at Lateral North used the virtual model to create an online version that can be accessed on the internet. They first had to optimise the data so that it could be streamed online. Using a platform called FrameVR, they built a version of 64 The Close that now contains all the elements of the Nara to Norwich exhibition, including all the display panels with weblinks to more information, a version of the scroll and video recordings of the monks.
The team at Lateral North also created a cutdown version of the experience, which will load up faster and can be viewed on tablets and smartphone. Here the display panels are in a large gallery space instead of the detailed 64 The Close model.
We are delighted to now bring you the completed models of the exhibition. As mentioned by Steve, we currently have two available: one is displayed in the Sainsbury Institute’s virtual headquarters which can be navigated from desktop devices, with downloadable PDFs of all the panels; the other is displayed in a virtual museum space for VR headsets and devices for users to explore the exhibition in its original layout (this is a lighter version to ensure it can be used even using cellular data – but can be navigated on your desktop device too).
As you are exploring the exhibition, I would encourage you to play the video of o-shomyo in the background (which can be done by clicking the play button on the left-hand video of the main wall and turning the sound on) to get an idea of the original multisensory experience of the displays. We hope you enjoy the displays and look forward to bringing you more outputs and research activities that utilise developing technologies in this continually expanding field.
With thanks to Hase Temple, Steve Colmer and the Lateral North team, and Colin Edwards (designer of the Forum exhibition panels)
Report by Olivia Butler, September 2025.
[1] Based on the average footfall of the venue, with the exhibition hosted in the main entrance hall. Estimated 5,000 people per day visit The Forum as confirmed by the Operations team.
[2] This article discusses the use of XR technologies in improving user experience and engagement at cultural sites as the concept of ‘cultural heritage’ continues to change and evolve: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1296207423001000?via%3Dihub; while this one discusses through a philosophical approach how XR in museum settings can accentuate the narratives attached to and the meaning of the artefacts within the digital museum space: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/virtual-reality/articles/10.3389/frvir.2024.1396280/full
[3] Ariya, P., Wongwan, N, Worragin, P., Intawong, K., and Puritat, K. ‘Immersive realities in museums: evaluating the impact of VR, VR360, and MR on visitor presence, engagement and motivation’. Virtual Reality (2025) 29:117. Pp. 1-20. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10055-025-01201-5
[4] Panayot, N., Bou-Rizk, A., Yassine, M.K., Kawtharani, R., and Asmar, D. ‘Digital Heritage Documentation for Protecting and Rebuilding Tangible Heritage in Natural Disaster and Conflict Zones’ in M. Ioannides, G. Issini & D. Oliveira (eds.), 3D Research Challenges in Cultural Heritage IV: Risk Prevention and Monitoring Methods. 2025. Springer: Switzerland. Pp. 172-183. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-93753-8_12
[5] https://artsandculture.google.com/story/qwVBpVjnKrhWKw
[6] This article also discusses the potential for gamification within heritage spaces to expand audience reach and participation as well as enhancing cultural understanding: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772503024000367