Abstract
Traditional Chinese landscape painting constructs spatial depth through scattered perspective and shifting viewpoints, enabling a layered, rhythmic experience of wandering the scroll. This spatial logic differs fundamentally from linear perspective and poses unique challenges for immersive translation. While VR offers new potentials for experiencing cultural heritage, most VR-based landscape reconstructions remain image-centric, lacking engagement with compositional and narrative structures inherent to the scroll format. This study investigates how the multi-layered spatial order and the rhythmically guided narrative of Chinese landscape painting can be reimagined in VR. Taking Early Spring as a core case, we propose a design framework integrating spatial composition, viewpoint logic, and narrative navigation to reconstruct the embodied viewing experience. Through prototype development, user observation, and semi-structured interviews, this study validates the practical effectiveness of the proposed design framework, offering actionable design guidance for the VR translation of traditional Chinese paintings based on scattered perspective.
Keywords
Chinese landscape painting composition; Spatial experience; Virtual reality; Immersive environment
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1160
Citation
Chen, M., Dong, Y., Li, Q., Qiong, W., Qiu, S.,and Xiao, L.(2025) From Scroll to Space: Reimagining the Spatial Order of Chinese Landscape Painting in VR, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1160
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 3 - Design, Art & Technology
From Scroll to Space: Reimagining the Spatial Order of Chinese Landscape Painting in VR
Traditional Chinese landscape painting constructs spatial depth through scattered perspective and shifting viewpoints, enabling a layered, rhythmic experience of wandering the scroll. This spatial logic differs fundamentally from linear perspective and poses unique challenges for immersive translation. While VR offers new potentials for experiencing cultural heritage, most VR-based landscape reconstructions remain image-centric, lacking engagement with compositional and narrative structures inherent to the scroll format. This study investigates how the multi-layered spatial order and the rhythmically guided narrative of Chinese landscape painting can be reimagined in VR. Taking Early Spring as a core case, we propose a design framework integrating spatial composition, viewpoint logic, and narrative navigation to reconstruct the embodied viewing experience. Through prototype development, user observation, and semi-structured interviews, this study validates the practical effectiveness of the proposed design framework, offering actionable design guidance for the VR translation of traditional Chinese paintings based on scattered perspective.