Student-developed tourism promotion software

Báo Trà Vinh•15/05/2023

Nguyen Anh Bao (right) and Ho Viet Thuan Phu introduce the interface of their "Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum Software" on a mobile phone application.

Ho Viet Thuan Phu shared: "My house is in Sam Bua hamlet, Luong Hoa commune, Chau Thanh district, near Ao Ba Om and the Tra Vinh Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum. During festivals, witnessing the activities of the Khmer people such as offering flowers, Ngo boat racing, and many activities during the Ok Om Bok festival, I felt the need to promote these activities to more people. Moreover, when visiting the 'Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum,' I saw many artifacts with unique meanings that many people are unaware of. From there, I started to have the idea and implement the project 'Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum Software'."

Nguyen Anh Bao was particularly interested in visiting the museum and noticed that digital transformation related to the Khmer people is still limited. Therefore, he and Thuan Phu wanted to create software to introduce the museum's artifacts to a wider audience. The goal is to digitize artifacts based on materials from the exhibition rooms, documents, and exhibits at the Tra Vinh Provincial Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum, aiming to promote, introduce, honor, and preserve the historical, cultural, material, and spiritual values of Tra Vinh to a wider audience.

Starting in May 2022, the two students began developing the software. Initially, they faced some difficulties, such as choosing a suitable website and software, consulting with their supervising teacher, and seeking assistance from senior students at the same school who had previously developed software. Nguyen Anh Bao shared: "Museums are places that 'connect the past with the present and the future,' by preserving and conserving the cultural heritage values of a nation."

The "Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum Software" is an application designed for the long-term digital storage of artifacts. It supports three languages (Vietnamese, English, and Khmer) to help users learn about the culture, history, customs, and art of the Khmer people in Southern Vietnam, specifically in Tra Vinh. Through this, students can digitally transform and store artifacts on a digital platform. This allows for the promotion and dissemination of the museum's image to a wider audience both domestically and internationally, contributing to the development of cultural and spiritual tourism, and the preservation and development of Khmer culture in Southern Vietnam.

The software includes key features such as: a new form of tourism, specifically allowing users to learn about museum exhibits through interactive images, reading, and listening to explanations. It offers 3D virtual tours of exhibition rooms, a 3D digital library, and digital storage of artifacts. Users can also read Khmer folk tales through a convenient video system, enabling learning anytime, anywhere…

Ho Viet Thuan Phu said: Before collecting information from the museum, the students surveyed the needs of the museum management and learned that the management needed to digitize artifacts to put them on a digital platform, attracting more tourists to visit the museum as well as ancient temples in Tra Vinh. Through the survey, they collected 284 original artifacts, 13,000 restored artifacts, and artifacts stored in the warehouse. Afterward, they learned about algorithms and software programming, studied the database, and built a website. The next step was to install and program the app, and finally, digitize the artifacts and translate them into English and Khmer.

To create the app, the students gathered authentic information and took photos for web development, filtering out relevant content before incorporating it into the app. The main interface in Vietnamese consists of five sections: Southern Khmer Culture, Learning the Khmer Language, Southern Khmer Folk Tales, Local History, and Museum Visits. Each section contains smaller sub-sections such as: spiritual culture, material culture, and traditional crafts. The museum visit section is further divided into parts: a list of artifacts, exhibition rooms, and finally, a guided tour with many vivid images of the exhibits.

With their passion and expertise in digital transformation and AI technology, the two students believe that the "Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum Software" can make a unique mark in the field of educational software. Through this, they aim to achieve certain positive results in promoting tourism to a wider audience, preserving and promoting Khmer culture, and integrating heritage content into education, helping students better understand local heritage and history.

Thanks to the practical effectiveness of the project, the "Khmer Ethnic Culture Museum Software" developed by the two students won first prize in the provincial science and technology research competition for high school students in the 2022-2023 school year and was selected by the Department of Education and Training to compete at the national level. This affirms the efforts of the two students in their studies and the effective application of the project to promote tourism, contribute to the socio-economic development of the province, and strengthen the application of digital transformation in education and the Khmer ethnic community.

Text and photos: NGOC XOAN

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