Incheon International Airport has opened Vivid Space, an exhibition hall featuring content presented through technological convergence.

By Kim Seon Ah

Photos = Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Incheon International Airport has opened an exhibition hall featuring Korean content converged with cutting-edge technologies like visual special effects, virtual (VR) and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Dec. 2 hosted the opening ceremony for the innovative multimedia venue Vivid Space at the airport jointly with the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) and Incheon International Airport Corp. 

Located at Terminal 1's transportation center, Vivid Space refers to a vivid and lively cultural space designed to promote to the world newer and more attractive Korean content through fusion with new technologies.  

Covering 396 square m, the venue consists of Space 1 mainly for immersive content, Space 2, an interactive space where content is completed by visitor participation, and K-content Promotion Hall for showing Korean content in a range of genres. Vivid Space's opening hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and admission is free.

The leading work at Space 1 is "Twilight," which shows the country's beautiful nature by using projection mapping technology to make visitors feel as if they are walking on a real beach.

Space 2 has the unique interactive content "Dream Flight," with the real airport in the background set and offering visitors the experience of coloring their own airplanes and flying them into the sky.

K-content Promotion Hall exhibits a range of genres such as broadcast, music and games through videos, photos and VR. 

The ministry said, "We hope that Vivid Space turns into a center of cultural exchange to spread our content's appeal."

The international promotional hall Korea 360, which was opened on a pilot basis on Nov. 1, attracts a line of people at the shopping mall Lotte Shopping Avenue in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The ministry on Dec. 3 will also officially launch Korea 360, an international hall promoting industrial products related to Korean culture, at the shopping mall Lotte Shopping Avenue in Jakarta, Indonesia, jointly with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. 

Launched this year, the ministry's project for using the hall to promote Korean brands abroad prepares and supports spaces to comprehensively experience, display and promote products from industries related to Korean culture such as cultural content, food and cosmetics. 

The name "Korea 360" refers to the project's unconventional experience of showing everything about Korea, from K-pop to beauty, from a 360-degree omnidirectional view. If such halls are run in other countries and regions, the same imagery will be used under a systematic promotional strategy. 

Covering 1,170 square m, a hall features three functions -- product display, events and business consulting -- including a permanent exhibition hall for products and spaces for events, exhibitions, smart offices and business investment attraction. 

Since trial operations began on Nov. 1, Korea 360 has displayed 2,178 products in both tangible and intangible forms from 230 brands of cosmetics, design and lifestyle products, seafood, traditional culture and tourism including 401 products from 76 content brands. 

To celebrate the hall's opening, KOCCA from Dec. 3-5 will host events like the theatrical screening of an animated movie, ceremony to announce Korea 360's vision, inauguration of a promotional group, programs promoting tourism in Korea and Korean cosmetics, a broadcast showcase for Hallyu (Korean Wave) marketing, export consultations and lottery drawing for prizes to mark Korean Culture Month.

sofiakim218@korea.kr