Barco, a technology company specialising in innovative visualisation solutions, has deployed its projectors for the touring immersive experience The Ways in Patterns – An Immersive Digital Exhibition from the Palace Museum.
Showing in Hong Kong and Shanghai during 2025 and 2026, the exhibition uses large-scale digital projection to transform the Forbidden City’s decorative motifs into vibrant animations.
Seven themed spaces focus on patterns from imperial architecture, ceramics, and textiles, bringing centuries-old artisanship together with contemporary storytelling.
Ultra-high-definition 4K imagery
The exhibition design centres on ultra-high-definition 4K imagery that reimagines traditional palace imagery in a cutting-edge digital format.
Seven bespoke spaces, powered by Barco projectors, are inspired by patterns seen in imperial buildings, pottery, and textiles. The result is a vivid reinterpretation of historic craftsmanship through immersive light and shade.
The ambitious, large-scale project required exceptional accuracy to faithfully reproduce the imagery rooted in traditional Chinese art, as well as complex mappings with high-resolution files, which carried the risk of distortion, warping, and misalignment.
The venues presented additional challenges for installation. Both lacked standard ceiling mounts and prohibited drilling into floors, making projector placement difficult. Units needed to operate in horizontal, vertical, and angled positions, pushing the limits of stability, lens flexibility, and installation creativity.
And once launched, the installation needed to operate for long hours each day with high footfall, impacting the lifetimes of light sources and their long-term resistance to dust and humidity. A reliable, efficient operational strategy was needed to manage and maintain dozens of projectors at once.
To create these seven immersive spaces in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the project used 110 Barco I600 projectors and 33 G50 projectors, with additional Barco units deployed for the opening sequence on the main wall in the lobby space of each venue.
These models offer ultra-high-definition 4K imaging with fine-detail reproduction and precise colour performance, and high-precision alignment. Their light-weight designs and motorised lens options enable precise placement. Additionally, their quiet operation helps maintain a calm, immersive atmosphere in public spaces.
Traditional imagery meets contemporary motion design
In the Radiant Splendor gallery, complex ceramic motifs become fluid, high-definition animations that flow across the walls and floors. A mix of I600 and G50 projectors delivers vibrant sequences that envelop guests in shifting patterns of light.
A technically challenging space, Natural Patterns required up to 16 projectors per venue to animate imagery from over 600 Palace Museum artefacts, including lotus flowers, egrets, loquats, and carps.
Overhead projection and a central 'Bowl' installation add layered visuals that merge traditional imagery with contemporary motion design.
The Ornamental Carvings space recreates the ornate caisson ceilings of the Forbidden City's iconic halls. With short-throw and ultrashort-throw lenses, Barco projectors mapped rotating starmap designs and a dramatic descending golden dragon in one of the most spectacular visual sequences of the exhibition.
Other spaces, including Splendid Emblems, Shadows Through Lattice Windows, and Ancient Patterns with New Life, combine projections on the scrim, walls, floors, and ceilings to reconsider historic textile motifs, key architectural elements, and nature-inspired imagery.
The Shanghai run also featured an interactive installation where visitors could design their own patterns and see them displayed instantly in the surrounding projections.
Honouring cultural heritage
The Ways in Patterns presents the Forbidden City’s artistic heritage for contemporary visitors, bringing historical imagery to life as moving, immersive visual stories.
With its end-to-end projection solutions, from content preparation to onsite installation and long-term operation, Barco serves as a key partner in turning traditional craftsmanship into digital art, illustrating how light can preserve, reinterpret, and celebrate cultural heritage.
Last month, Barco announced the expansion of its QDS platform. The addition of three new RGB models rounds out the series, making it a comprehensive toolkit for themed entertainment and high-profile installations.
