Qiao Family Compound: An AR Digital Human Guide Brings the Past to Life

Project in brief: Qiao Qiao is an AR digital human guide at the Qiao Family Compound in Shanxi. Built with AI, AR, and EasyAR spatial computing, she combines wayfinding, cultural commentary, interactive exploration, and personalized tour modes in one on-site experience.

Use case: Digital-human guide for a historic residential compound　Coverage: 18 grand courtyards, 41 smaller yards, 731 rooms, and 124 points of interest　Content: Approximately 140,000 words of researched commentary　Core experiences: AR navigation, smart tours, audio and visual interpretation, role-play, 3D reconstruction, and shareable cultural content

Qiao Qiao AR digital human guide introduces the Qiao Family Compound — Qiao Qiao serves as a digital guide who can navigate, explain, and interact with visitors at the Qiao Family Compound.

Project Context: Making a Complex Heritage Site Easier to Explore

The Qiao Family Compound is a large historic residential complex with multiple courtyards, halls, alleys, shops, services, and exhibition spaces. Visitors need to understand both where they are going and why each space matters, often while moving between indoor and outdoor areas.

Qiao Qiao addresses this challenge as a digital human guide with a recognizable personality. She can lead visitors to a destination, explain architecture and Jin merchant culture, answer questions through prepared commentary, and reveal interactive content without requiring a separate human guide for every group.

Core Capability: A Living Map with Spatial Awareness

Qiao Qiao functions as a living map of the compound. She knows the site's alleys, halls, scenic spots, shops, and restrooms, and can direct visitors to them through AR navigation. VPS (Visual Positioning System) helps the phone recognize its surroundings so visitors can follow the route without repeatedly rotating the device to match a conventional map.

The spatial map supports both outdoor and indoor movement, including multiple floors and changes in elevation. Because the map can be updated, temporary exhibitions and new destinations can be incorporated without rebuilding the whole visitor experience.

Qiao Qiao AR navigation guides visitors through the compound — AR wayfinding keeps the route connected to the visitor's physical surroundings.

Content Intelligence: A Digital Expert on the Qiao Family

The compound includes 18 grand courtyards, 41 smaller yards, and 731 rooms, with 124 points of interest. Qiao Qiao's approximately 140,000 words of commentary cover architectural details, Jin merchant customs, local traditions, and stories connected with the site.

Architecture
Explain courtyards, halls, decorative details, and the relationship between buildings.

Jin merchant culture
Connect the compound's spaces with the commercial history and customs of Shanxi merchants.

Local traditions
Bring regional stories and everyday cultural practices into the visitor route.

Qiao Qiao provides detailed cultural commentary about the Qiao Family Compound — The digital guide turns a large heritage archive into commentary that visitors can access point by point.

Visitor Journey: Four Ways to Tour the Compound

Qiao Qiao lets visitors choose the level of structure and immersion that suits them. The four modes keep the experience flexible while using the same spatial map and content system.

Smart Tour
Tap once and Qiao Qiao identifies the nearest attraction and starts a guided route.

Walk and Listen
Move freely through the compound while listening to commentary along the way.

Route-based tours
Choose a themed zone and follow a route that covers several attractions.

Map navigation
Use a three-dimensional spatial view to connect your position with each attraction.

Commentary is equally flexible. Visitors can choose illustrated audio explanations for a familiar guide format or switch to AR exploration, where hidden visual details and interactive “Easter eggs” add a playful layer to the cultural story.

Qiao Qiao offers multiple tour and commentary modes — Visitors can switch between smart, route-based, audio, and map-led exploration modes.

Qiao Qiao combines audio commentary with immersive AR exploration — Audio interpretation and AR exploration provide different ways to engage with the same site.

Interactive Storytelling: Seventy-Two Transformations in AR

Qiao Qiao combines images, text, video, and animated overlays with her commentary. Instead of leaving visitors with an abstract description, the AR layer can highlight details that are easy to miss and turn a static explanation into a moment of discovery.

Qiao Qiao reveals interactive AR content during a tour — Interactive AR content gives the digital guide a playful, responsive presence.

AR digital human storytelling brings historical details to life — Images, text, and motion work together to make historical explanations vivid and memorable.

3D Scene Reconstruction: Making Distant History Tangible

Some stories are too distant, abstract, or complex to understand from a plaque alone. Qiao Qiao uses three-dimensional scene reconstruction to lower that barrier and place historical events within the visitor's field of view.

In front of statues, visitors can scan a marker and watch animated scenes that explain how the Qiao family recognized opportunities and built its wealth. For the “Fu Zhong Lang Huan” plaque, the guide connects the 1900 flight of the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi through Qi County, Qiao Zhiyong's assistance and donation, and the later imperial presentation of the plaque with the legend of Lang Huan—the celestial library that came to symbolize a fairyland.

3D reconstruction adds historical scenes to the Qiao Family Compound tour — Three-dimensional reconstructions connect historical stories with the places where visitors encounter them.

AR storytelling explains the history behind the Fu Zhong Lang Huan plaque — AR storytelling layers historical evidence and legend around a specific plaque and location.

Project Value: A Digital Guide Visitors Can Keep

For the price of a cup of afternoon tea, visitors receive a guided experience and a lasting digital knowledge resource about the Qiao Family Compound. They can revisit the content after leaving, turning a one-time tour into an archive they can return to whenever they wish.

For site operators, a digital human guide can combine navigation, interpretation, interaction, and content updates in one system. Similar AR digital-human solutions can be customized for scenic spots across China, with the avatar, route, story, and interaction model adapted to each destination.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Qiao Qiao?

Qiao Qiao is an AR digital human guide at the Qiao Family Compound. She provides navigation, cultural commentary, interactive exploration, and route recommendations through a phone-based AR experience.

How does Qiao Qiao support navigation?

VPS and spatial mapping help the system recognize the visitor's surroundings and position. Qiao Qiao can guide visitors outdoors and indoors, across multiple floors, with route information presented in the camera view.

What tour modes are available?

Visitors can use Smart Tour, Walk and Listen, route-based tours, or map navigation. They can also choose between illustrated audio commentary and more immersive AR exploration.

What kind of cultural content does the guide provide?

The content covers architecture, Jin merchant customs, local traditions, historical figures, legends, and site-specific stories across 124 points of interest and approximately 140,000 words of commentary.

Can the solution be used at other scenic spots?

Yes. Similar AR digital-human guides can be customized for other destinations by adapting the avatar, spatial map, cultural content, routes, and interactive experiences to the local site.

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Image source: existing public materials from the Qiao Family Compound AR digital-human guide project. Updated September 2026.