Gen-Diaolou: An Integrated AI-Assisted Interactive System for Diachronic Understanding and Preservation of the Kaiping Diaolou

TL;DR

This paper presents Gen-Diaolou, an AI-assisted interactive system designed to enhance understanding and preservation of the Kaiping Diaolou heritage site, addressing challenges in heritage engagement through innovative human-AI collaboration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated AI system for cultural heritage engagement, informed by empirical stakeholder insights, and demonstrates its potential to improve diachronic understanding and preservation awareness.

Findings

Gen-Diaolou supports visitors' understanding of heritage evolution.

The system increases preservation awareness among users.

Empirical studies validate the system's effectiveness in real-world settings.

Abstract

The Kaiping Diaolou and Villages, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, exemplify hybrid Chinese and Western architecture shaped by migration culture. However, architectural heritage engagement often faces authenticity debates, resource constraints, and limited participatory approaches. This research explores current challenges of leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for architectural heritage, and how AI-assisted interactive systems can foster cultural heritage understanding and preservation awareness. We conducted a formative study (N=14) to uncover empirical insights from heritage stakeholders that inform design. These insights informed the design of Gen-Diaolou, an integrated AI-assisted interactive system that supports heritage understanding and preservation. A pilot study (N=18) and a museum field study (N=26) provided converging evidence suggesting that Gen-Diaolou may support visitors' diachronic understanding and preservation awareness, and together informed design implications for future human-AI collaborative systems for digital cultural heritage engagement. More broadly, this work bridges the research gap between passive heritage systems and unconstrained creative tools in the HCI domain.