"World of Comics: Imaginary or Reality? PLUS" achieves another summit with new AR board game Dutchman in Formosa
"Capturing Taichung's Landscape" interactive device makes its debut in Academia Sinica's venue in the 2018 Taipei International Book Exhibition

"World of Comics: Imaginary or Reality? Creative Comic Collection Interactive Digital Exhibition" has been warmly welcomed in August last year. In response to the invite of the 2018 Taipei International Book Exhibition, Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures presents an advanced version of the August exhibition featuring AR board game Dutchman in Formosa (蘭人異聞錄) and a brand new 3D production of glove puppetry play "Hero Errant of Dragon Fountain vs. the Mist Man" (龍泉俠大戰迷霧人).

Adapted from the eponymous Creative Comic Collection (aka CCC) classic, the board game Dutchman in Formosa revives early modern nautical charts with Google Tango technology, bringing the player back to the power struggle in sea trade off Taiwan's coast 400 years ago. One can take up the role of Pieter Nuyts, governor of the Dutch East India Company, or Suetsugu Heizo, attaché of Japanese Nagasaki magistrate to fight for trade advantage in Taiwan. You can expect to face off Spanish galleons, Ming dynasty merchant ships, Zheng Zhilong's force and pirate crews on the way – how will you get on? Settle some business, fight or flight? Be prepared for an adventure in the historical scenes of Taiwan in the Age of discovery.

"Hero Errant of Dragon Fountain vs. the Mist Man" features a 3D projection that presents the duel of good and evil. With brand new screenplay and newly-crafted puppets, breathtaking peripeteia and full-fledged characters are there to animate the stage with sword fight realism and thrill. 

Drawing on the CCC content "World of Comics: Imaginary or Reality? Creative Comic Collection Interactive Digital Exhibition PLUS" combines the ASUS ZenFone AR cellphone which supports the Google Tango and 3D projection technology to build immersion spaces merging manga scenes with the reality, enabling the viewer to meet the manga characters face to face. This amalgam of cultural content, manga art, traditional opera and digital technology opens up a new page for Taiwan manga art history.

In the inaugural speech of TiBE on February 6, President Tsai Ing-wen remarked that there has been a growing amount of productions that integrate manga and animation and cater to a diverse readership with interdisciplinary co-authored works, and "World of Comics: Imaginary or Reality? Creative Comic Collection Interactive Digital Exhibition PLUS" stands as a shining epitome.

In addition to new productions, this exhibition also recreates scenes in A Hundred Tableaux of Taipei (北城百畫帖) and The Strangers' Travels: A Tale of Tea Trade (異人茶跡). One can step into the enchanted study of 1930 Taipei in A Hundred Tableaux of Taipei and the late Qing dynasty hongs in The Strangers' Travels: A Tale of Tea Trade. These enchanted settings offer a glimpse of the world of tea in nineteenth-century Taiwan through time.

Busy fiddling with the AR machine and no time for a nice selfie? No worries – there is an AR photo area for you to catch a selfie with key manga figures such as John Dodd, Li Chunsheng, Hailan, the owner of the Chamber of Hundred Tableaux and Minghu to preserve the precious moment in which the virtual meets the real.

Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures cuts a double-bladed figure in the 2018 TiBE: to accompany "World of Comics: Imaginary or Reality? Creative Comic Collection Interactive Digital Exhibition PLUS" is the recently-released Walking into Taichung's Past and Present and its spin-off mobile app, not to mention "Capturing Taichung’s Landscape", an interactive installation using HTC VIVE technology.

This installation has 4 checkpoints. The HTC VIVE technology provides the player with accurate positioning that juxtaposes identical spots on historical maps and modern-day maps and it locates the 12 principle architectures mentioned in Walking into Taichung’s Past and Present to unveil the past.

Friends and the Press are all welcomed to join us in the fascinating passage between the virtual and the real and the past and the present. Savor the fun of fusing culture and technology this winter. 

Exhibition Info

Time: February 6 ~11, 2018

Location: Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1 (No.5, Sec. 5, Xinyi Rd., Taipei City)

Opening Hours: 10:00-20:00 (Friday, Saturday 10:00-22:00)

“World of Comics: Imaginary or Reality? Creative Comic Collection Interactive Digital Exhibition PLUS” （Venue C531）

Sponsor: Academia Sinica, Ministry of Culture

Organizer: Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures (ASCDC), Gaea Books 

Supporting Organizer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.,Taipei Book Fair Foundation, PUPMO

Exhibition Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1010668939071606/

Academia Sinica TIBE Section （Venue B317）

For more information, please visit the Academia Sinica’s fan page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/sinicaedu/posts/?ref=page_internal