Creative tourism in the UK and China: Augmented Reality for gardens in Cornwall and Suzhou

中国苏州地区以其公共花园而闻名世界，城市环境中的旅游景点作为宁静的绿洲，是古代设计理念的产物。英国康沃尔郡的公共花园也吸引了来自世界各地的游客，这里的乡村环境注重保护、园艺和可持续发展目标，同时也在努力解决帝国历史的遗留问题。世界各地的主要植物园今年开始试验增强现实（AR）技术，展示“虚拟展览”，游客可以通过智能手机上的应用程序进入，通过受《口袋妖怪Go》等热门游戏的启发，将开放空间转变为互动的创意旅游。从增强现实设计师的角度来看，公共花园是一个理想的工作空间，因为它们是封闭的空间，有明确的规则和设计——很像电子游戏的关卡。这与中国游戏产业所面临的挑战相交叉：面对市场机遇和政府压力，互动应用需要多样化用户。该项目探索在小型公共花园中发展AR展览，这些小型公共花园可能对大型竞争对手的开创性活动印象深刻。与一家专门从事AR的中国技术合作伙伴合作，该项目与公共花园合作，以了解其机会如何与他们的使命相关。来自两所大学的研究人员和学生将与康沃尔和苏州的公共花园合作，共同开发增强现实技术，以增强他们为现有观众提供的服务，并吸引新的观众，同时吸引感兴趣的当地参展商或艺术家。这个过程是由花园的合作伙伴领导的，主要是为了设计一些合适的东西，而不仅仅是炫耀技术能做什么。通过这个项目，该项目探索了公共花园的不同概念，它们的组织原则和它们所借鉴的遗产，将东西方花园设计的传统与增强现实和创意旅游提供的创新机会相碰撞，开始了英国和中国合作伙伴之间的对话，讨论我们不同的遗产如何为创新、合作和设计过程提供见解。“中英创意旅游”项目。“康沃尔和苏州园林增强现实”项目旨在建立中英两国之间的战略合作伙伴关系，以推动当地的创新和增长，包括：1-大学、地方政府、技术中介和公共园林合作伙伴之间的合作伙伴关系，以追求增强现实在创意旅游和遗产方面的共同利益，推动当地创新并实现增长。2-在英国康沃尔地区和中国苏州地区共同开发公共花园的AR元素，同时涉及合作大学弗拉茅斯大学和同济大学的研究团队和学生。在现场部署和用户测试AR设计，以跟踪影响和有效性。4 -在整个设计过程中分享学习，同时反思在不同背景下的过程影响和结果。这些主要活动的整合将导致以下产出：A -为公共花园合作伙伴设计和开发AR元素，使他们能够接触到新的观众、参展商和市场。B -研究团队之间的合作研讨会，建立合作渠道，导致会议或期刊论文总结学习。C -加强高等教育院校与创意及旅游产业的关系，以期在未来申请更多拨款。

The Chinese region of Suzhou is famous worldwide for its public gardens, visitor attractions in urban settings acting as oases of tranquility, products of an ancient design philosophy. Cornwall in the UK also draws visitors from across the world to its public gardens, which in its rural setting focus on preservation, horticulture and sustainability goals, as well as grappling with legacies of an imperial past. Major botanical gardens across the world have this year started experimenting with Augmented Reality (AR) technology to display 'virtual exhibitions' which visitors can access through apps on their smartphones, transforming open spaces into interactive, creative tourism through approaches inspired by hit games such as Pokemon Go. From the perspective of an AR designer, public gardens are an ideal space to work with because they are enclosed spaces, with clear rules and design - much like a videogame level. This intersects with a challenge that the Chinese games industry in particular faces: the need to diversify audiences for interactive applications in the face of market opportunities and government pressures. This project explores developing AR exhibitions in smaller public gardens which may have been impressed by seeing pioneering events at larger competitors Working with a Chinese technology partner specialised in AR, this project engages public gardens to find out how its opportunities are relevant to their missions. Researchers and students from two universities experienced in delivering technology projects with heritage partners will work together with public gardens in Cornwall and Suzhou to develop AR which enhances what they offer current audiences and also draw in new ones, as well as engage interested local exhibitors or artists with AR opportunities. The process is led by the garden partners and is primarily about designing something appropriate, not just showing off what the technology can do. Through this the project explores the different conceptions of what a public garden is for, the principles they are organised around and the heritage they draw upon, colliding the traditions of eastern and western garden design with the innovation opportunities Augmented Reality and creative tourism offer, beginning a conversation between UK and China partners about how our diverse heritage can offer insights for innovation, collaboration and the process of design. The project "Creative tourism in the UK and China.: Augmented Reality for Gardens in Cornwall and Suzhou" looks to build a strategic partnership between the UK and China in order to drive local innovation and growth, and consists of:1- A partnership between universities, regional administrations, a technology intermediary and public garden partners to pursue shared interests in AR for Creative Tourism and heritage,drive local innovation and enable growth. 2- The co-development of AR elements for public gardens in the UK's Cornwall region and in China's Suzhou region, simultaneously involving partner universities' Flamouth and Tongji's research teams and students.3- The deployment and user-testing of the AR designs in situ to track impact and effectiveness.4 -The sharing of learning throughout the design process alongside reflection on the impact and outcomes of the process in its different contexts. The integration of these main activities will lead to the following outputs: A - The design and development of AR elements for public garden partners, enabling them to reach new audiences, exhibitors and markets. B - Collaboration workshops between research teams establishing channels for working together, leading to a conference or journal paper summarising learning. C - A strengthened relationship between relationship between HEIs and creative and tourism industries, with the intention to apply for further funding in the future.