A Chinese research team will use blockchain technology to establish alliances with museums and cultural institutions to share and update information about heritage objects.
A team of researchers from Tshinghua University, located in China, created a system where digital versions of important cultural objects can be stored and shared through a network of blocks. Postdoctoral researcher, Tan Jiajia along with Lu Xiaobu, the director of the University’s Academy of Art and Design, created a document to explain the system they created. Three faculty members at the University will work on the concept of the special program.
“The first part involves the use of 3D digital models, in which an object of cultural importance can be scanned to create a virtual representation of it. In the second stage, the system automatically stores the data of each object in a private block network by using hashes,”
it is read in the document.
By including other institutions, such as museums, to operate nodes, blockchain technology could become a kind of consortium in which each participant would gain access to a database that contains information about the shared cultural heritage of the country, having the possibility to update it with the data they handle at the institutional level. In addition, the researchers presented a patent where they explain that the system will generate a hash in the blockchain network whenever an update is made. That data will later become part of a public block network to enhance the network’s transparency, so that other people can access information later.
The document also explains that,
“Based on the unique design of Blockchain networks for the exchange of information, the digital identity of each object considered cultural heritage can be transferred between the different participants at a very low cost, guaranteeing total efficiency and promoting economic and social values.”
According to a report from CoinDesk, the researchers indicated that they used Tencent’s Trust platform in the initial tests, a product that was announced last year by the internet service provider.
by Maria Victoria Rodríguez
