Chinese broadcasters celebrate New Year with augmented reality

Earlier this month, Chinese broadcasters marked the Year of the Pig with a variety of augmented reality usage in their studio environments.

The Lunar New Year was officially observed Feb. 5 with celebrations and events lasting over two weeks, concluding with the Lantern Festival Feb. 19.

Suzhou TV (苏州电视台), which regularly uses augmented reality as part of its daily news output, transformed its broadcast studio with layers of ornate gold detailing and a virtual lattice applied to existing light boxes and ceiling pieces.

The set’s sweeping staircase was hidden by a large 2019 graphic while the ceiling and light grid was augmented with a pig graphic, referring to this year’s zodiac animal.

Set Design

SZTV

View a gallery of this project…

Shandong Television (山东广播电视台) took a different approach, uses virtual paper lanterns inspired by the Lantern Festival for its studio decoration while more traditional Chinese graphics with red and gold appeared in the various video walls.