- Categories:Animation, Immersive Expierence, UI/UX
Overview
Hong Kong is a city shaped by layers of history, evolving from a fishing village to a global financial centre while maintaining a rich cultural heritage.
This project explored how augmented reality and physical interaction could make local history more engaging and accessible, particularly for younger audiences who often perceive historical education as static or disconnected from daily life.
The outcome was a series of interactive pop-up cards enhanced with AR content, designed to accompany local heritage tours and transform historical storytelling into an immersive experience.
Objective
The project aimed to encourage cultural appreciation and historical awareness by creating a more engaging way for visitors to experience Hong Kong’s heritage sites.
By combining physical artefacts with digital storytelling, the experience sought to bridge the gap between historical knowledge and contemporary audiences.
Challenge
Traditional heritage tours often rely on verbal explanations, photographs, and information boards to communicate historical context.
For younger audiences in particular, it can be difficult to visualise how people once lived and interacted within these spaces.
The challenge was to create a storytelling tool that could:
- Increase engagement with local history
- Help visitors visualise the past within a present-day environment
- Encourage active participation rather than passive observation
- Make historical content more approachable for children and families
Research & Insights
Research into local heritage education revealed that people connect more strongly with history when they can visualise human stories rather than simply consume factual information.
Rather than presenting historical facts alone, the experience focused on recreating moments of everyday life within heritage buildings to establish an emotional connection between visitors and the location.
Design Approach
The solution combined physical pop-up cards with augmented reality content.
Tangible Interaction
- Visitors receive a printed pop-up card when arriving at a heritage location.
- The card acts as both a souvenir and an interactive trigger, encouraging exploration beyond traditional tour materials.
Augmented Storytelling
- When scanned using a mobile AR application, the card reveals animated scenes depicting daily life from the past.
- Rather than showing architectural information alone, the AR experience focuses on human activity and cultural stories, helping visitors understand how these spaces were once used.
Location-Based Learning
- The AR content is directly linked to the site being visited, allowing participants to compare the historical reconstruction with the real environment around them.
- This creates a stronger connection between place, memory, and cultural identity.
Featured Locations
The project focused on heritage sites within Sham Shui Po, including:
- Mei Ho House
- Traditional neighbourhood tuck stores
These locations were selected for their cultural significance and their ability to represent everyday life in historical Hong Kong.
Solution
The final experience transformed a conventional heritage tour into an interactive educational journey.
Key features included:
- Illustrated pop-up cards inspired by local architecture
- AR-triggered animations showing historical daily life
- Site-specific storytelling connected to physical locations
- A blend of education, play, and cultural exploration
By combining physical and digital media, the project encouraged visitors to engage with Hong Kong’s history in a more memorable and immersive way.
Key Takeaway
This project demonstrates how experience design, illustration, and augmented reality can be combined to make cultural heritage more accessible and engaging.
Rather than presenting history as a collection of facts, the experience invites visitors to step into the stories of the past and discover the human side of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage.