EXPERIENCING THE PRESENT AND EXPLORING THE FUTURE WITH IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES CASE STUDY: " ST. LAZARUS CHURCH PEDESTRIAN STREET", MACAU

In the present world, many cities have historical and culturally rich districts, but
protectionism or economic reasons have slowed their development. Therefore, how to
generate more value for these areas is crucial for a city with a deep and complex history.
Using immersive virtual reality technology can help solve this problem, and this paper takes
Macau's famous historical district as an entry point and starts from the perspective of the
general public to explore and design some of the existing buildings and public areas in the
district.

The focus of this study is to explore the future development possibilities of historical and
cultural districts in cities and experience the current situation of the district. Specifically, by
studying the historical background and human investigation of ST. LAZARUS CHURCH
PEDESTRIAN STREET (Chinese official name: 疯堂斜巷), the study uses immersive
virtual reality technology to first create a scene of the existing building group in the district
as a stage of protection for historical buildings. Then, it creates and presents a future
building group scene in the district, which includes completed buildings and public area
facilities after renovation and sustainable design. This renovation does not destroy the
protected historical buildings at all, but is a protective exploration. The researchers used
3D computer graphics software (Blender) and virtual tour software (Kuula) to create the
design, and users can freely explore the scene by "walking" virtually. The design includes
two groups of architectural scenes of the ST. LAZARUS CHURCH PEDESTRIAN STREET
in the present and the future. After entering the scene, users can freely switch between the

present and the future time points to experience the different architectural scene
atmospheres. Users can enter some buildings and public areas, and interact with objects
in the scene to generate visual or auditory introductions to the target. Users can see the
rough outline of the future historical and cultural district after the protective development in
the free exploration of the virtual reality environment, which can inspire further public
thinking about the development of historical and cultural street areas in the city.

Users can explore and experience the project using professional virtual reality equipment
or directly on the web. By using immersive virtual reality technology, the public can have a
more intuitive and comprehensive understanding of the future development of historical
and cultural street areas, and urban planners, professional architects, and clients of
architectural design can all benefit from this technology, especially in the initial conceptual
design and prototype design of buildings.