Cultural Promotion, Technological Enabling: VR Cinemas are Creating a New Ecosystem for Offline Cultural Consumption | Early-stage Project
In the past period, content related to large - scale VR spaces has emerged like mushrooms after a rain. According to IDC's prediction, the global market size of large - scale VR space solutions will exceed $12 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 58%. As a core growth market, China has also seen some high - quality projects gradually stand out.
On April 29, 2025, the "798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision · VR Cinema" created by 798 Culture and Technology Co., Ltd. was officially unveiled in the 798·751 Park in Beijing and opened to the public on May 1. This is not only the first VR cinema launched by 798 Culture and Technology Co., Ltd., but also the first step in its future VR scenario implementation plan.
The "798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision · VR Cinema" was officially unveiled in the 798·751 Park in Beijing
Although it has been less than a year since 798 Culture and Technology Co., Ltd. established the "Intelligent Painting of Artistic Realm" strategy, the team is not a "newcomer" in the field of cultural and technological integration.
It is understood that the team began to organize multiple annual exhibitions integrating art and technology in 2022, exploring the possibility of the collision between technology and art. Among them, the first Beijing Art and Technology Biennale with the theme of "Synthetic Ecology" invited 50 artists, scientists, and ecologists from around the world. The "I Want to See 'Your Seeing'" digital art exhibition in 2023 was the first art project in China focusing on VR, AR, and MR, and cooperated with 9 well - known artists/groups from around the world.
Since then, the team has gradually entered the VR industry from simply organizing art exhibitions, from conducting research, selecting content, to finally implementing projects. On June 25, 2024, the 798 and 751 parks merged for operation, and a new cultural and creative technology platform - Beijing 798 Culture and Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "798 Culture and Technology Co., Ltd.") was announced to be established, aiming to become an internationally first - class and leading "culture + technology" integrated development platform.
In just one year, the park has held nearly 4,000 exhibitions and received 12.57 million visitors. 798 Culture and Technology Co., Ltd. has also deeply cooperated with leading technology companies such as BOE and HTC, launched innovative projects such as digital exhibition halls and AIHub, and created digital light and shadow experiences such as "ALAB Mountain and Sea Space" and "Notre - Dame de Paris".
In just one year, the park has held nearly 4,000 exhibitions and received 12.57 million visitors
The implementation of the 798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision project is a concrete manifestation of 798 Culture and Technology Co., Ltd.'s "culture + technology" integrated development strategy in the relevant field, and also the result of the team's experience accumulated after organizing hundreds of exhibitions.
The 798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision is a large - scale, compound VR space in a cinema - style, covering an area of 3,500 square meters, including five themed spaces and two release halls. A total of 8 VR films are screened in the first batch, covering various types such as Chinese - style suspense, science fiction adventure, cultural art, and science popularization. They are:
"Mystery Records of the Tang Dynasty · Westward Journey" - Explore the grandeur of the prosperous Tang Dynasty in an innovative Chinese - style art style, solve strange cases alongside popular film and TV IPs, and unlock new gameplay of film - game interaction.
"Mars Exploration" - Dive into a vast base, cross a thousand - foot furnace of magma, control a hundred - meter mech, and personally experience the future battlefield to start an adventure.
"Adventure in the End - Times" - Resolute warriors carrying the torch of civilization set out bravely, break through the encirclement in a perilous situation, and search for hope and dawn.
"The Kunlun Labyrinth" - Explore the divine tomb in the Kunlun Mountains, crack the secret chamber mechanisms, gather tomb - raiding experts, and uncover the dusty legends in the face of unknown risks.
"Time - Space Puzzle · Dinosaurs" - Travel back to the Jurassic period and turn the tide to save the world in a crisis.
"Meeting Su Dongpo" - Take an overview of cultural heritages rich in humanistic connotations, get closer to historical figures as poetic as a poem, and deepen your understanding of civilization.
"Deep - Sea Encounter" - Have your first diving experience reaching 2,000 meters deep in the sea instantly and catch a glimpse of the mysterious deep blue rarely visited by humans.
"Cosmic Conjecture · Departure" - Immerse yourself in the prequel of interstellar exploration and feel the ultimate romance of the stars and the sea in the vast universe.
It is reported that during the preparation of the venue, the team tried more than a hundred films. After comprehensive consideration of indicators such as immersive experience, somatosensory interaction, visual effects, plot story, and level settings, they finally selected film sources that offer a more shocking, immersive, and smooth experience, allowing players to truly explore, enjoy, and immerse themselves in the content.
"The most important thing for large - scale VR space projects is the quality of the content. In the past two years, a large number of works have emerged in the industry, but the quality varies. As a platform provider, we should first select good products, combine cutting - edge experience technologies and mature venue solutions, and bring the best experience to users." Liu Chen, the person - in - charge of 798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision, said in an interview.
Visitors lined up to experience the VR cinema
In daily entertainment, users love scenarios such as watching movies on the big screen, offline online gaming, outdoor camping, and theme parks because they can gain real feelings when immersed in them. VR is also a content medium that requires "experience" rather than just "understanding". The worlds inside and outside the VR glasses are not connected, and there is no substitute for the sense of experience.
For large - scale VR space content, the "experience scenario" is the most crucial part besides the content quality. Only with good content and a good scenario can an immersive experience be achieved.
"We conducted detailed research on the space - utilization efficiency ratio. By combining technological means, we successfully enabled multiple people to experience in the same venue simultaneously, and thus summarized an efficient operation model. At the same time, as the operator of the 798·751 Park, we have relatively more options in terms of space volume. The final decision of 3,500 square meters reflects our confidence in the 798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision. We hope to build an 'ecological platform' with two - way empowerment through this VR cinema project, explore more possibilities with creators and the general public, and provide useful reference information for industry partners. This information includes content creativity, implementation forms, operation models, and user preferences." The person - in - charge of 798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision said.
The 798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision brings users a more diverse and rich range of content choices through this one - stop, compound VR space. By using the "real - world anchor points + virtual narrative" technology, it creates an immersive universe that can reach multiple senses. Therefore, the 798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision combines the large - scale VR space with the cinema operation logic, pioneering the "one - stop" multi - hall setting and "cinema - style" intelligent screening arrangement. While ensuring content diversity, it allows users to have the independent right to choose films on - site.
Audience members are experiencing VR movies
Some users said in an interview, "I've experienced VR exhibitions before, but this is the first time I've experienced this kind of cinema - style VR with real - world scenes and a plot. I'm going to bring my kids for a second visit." According to the data provided by the project party, more than 5,000 people came to experience during the May Day holiday, and the daily full - house occupancy rate reached 80%.
In the future, the 798 Hyper - Dimensional Vision will continue to explore more possibilities of the integration of virtual and real, bring more high - quality cultural content to consumers, create new scenarios of cultural and technological integration and new landmarks for cultural and tourism consumption featuring immersive interaction. From "one popular spot" to "full - scale splendor", it will build a co - creation stage for public participation and inspiration collision, providing a replicable innovation model for immersive cultural consumption across the country.