TBNET Creates 3D Digital Archives of Historic Film Locations in Shantou

Released during China's May Day holiday film season, the Chaoshan-dialect film A Letter to Grandma (<给阿嫲的情书>) gained widespread attention through strong word of mouth, bringing the culture of the Chaoshan region into the spotlight. Along with the film's success, traditional buildings tucked away in historic streets and neighborhoods have once again captured the public's interest.

When the story on screen comes to an end, can the places where it unfolded be documented more completely? Can the old buildings that preserve family memories, traces of everyday life, and local cultural heritage be experienced by more people, regardless of time and distance?

In August 2026, TBNET's technical team traveled to Shantou, Guangdong Province, China, with the LingVision P1 Spatial Camera to digitally capture and reconstruct two important filming locations: Qifeng Chen Ancestral Hall and the Zhang Cuonei Old Residence.

Using the Head Solution 3D Visualization and Micro-Application Platform, TBNET transformed these historic buildings, which embody the memories and cultural heritage of Chaoshan, into digital assets that can be preserved, explored, and shared.

With its heartfelt storytelling and distinctive Chaoshan cultural identity, A Letter to Grandma invites audiences into the everyday lives and collective memories of the local community.

As the film's popularity continues to grow, its traditional buildings and historic streets have increasingly become destinations for visitors seeking to explore Chaoshan and experience the region's overseas Chinese heritage.

Qifeng Chen Ancestral Hall serves as an important setting in the film, witnessing the convergence of the characters' lives and emotions. The Zhang Cuonei Old Residence retains the atmosphere of traditional Chaoshan family life, reflecting the distinctive spatial layouts and cultural character of local architecture.

However, conventional photographs and videos can capture only selected viewpoints. They cannot fully convey a building's spatial structure or allow viewers to explore the space freely.

How can the authentic spatial characteristics of these buildings be preserved while enabling more people to explore them beyond geographical boundaries?

To address this challenge, TBNET's technical team traveled to Shantou to create digital records of these valuable spaces—records that can be viewed, explored, and shared online.

To overcome the limitations of conventional imagery in spatial representation and interactive experiences, TBNET adopted an integrated workflow combining data acquisition, 3D model reconstruction, and platform development.

By connecting on-site data capture, 3D reconstruction, and digital application, the solution presents historic buildings in a more immersive and intuitive way.

Using the LingVision P1 Spatial Camera, TBNET's technical team collected real-world imagery and spatial data from the interior and exterior of the buildings through an efficient, non-contact acquisition process.

The captured data included building facades, spatial layouts, architectural details, and surface textures, providing the foundation for subsequent 3D reconstruction.

Unlike conventional photography and video captured from fixed viewpoints, spatial data acquisition focuses on the relationships between different parts of a building and its overall spatial configuration. This provides the data needed to reconstruct the scene and support realistic exploration of the resulting digital environment.

Following on-site data acquisition, the team processed the collected data and reconstructed the 3D scenes using 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) and SLAM technologies.

3D Gaussian Splatting helps reproduce architectural textures, colors, lighting, and spatial details. As a result, the digital models do more than depict the buildings' external appearance: they also provide a more immersive way to explore the reconstructed environments.

Rather than remaining confined to individual photographs, these historic buildings can now be experienced as three-dimensional digital spaces that convey richer spatial information.

After data acquisition and 3D reconstruction, the team integrated the 3D Gaussian Splatting results into the Head Solution 3D Visualization and Micro-Application Platform.

The platform brings together scene navigation, data presentation, and immersive interaction in a lightweight digital application.

Through the platform, users can gain a more intuitive understanding of the buildings and their spatial characteristics.

For project stakeholders, platform-based visualization provides a centralized way to present digital deliverables. For cultural tourism, heritage communication, and public engagement, online 3D environments create new opportunities for audiences to discover local architecture and learn about regional culture. They also provide a foundation for future digital content creation and additional application scenarios.

The film has encouraged audiences to discover Chaoshan through its story. 3D digitization offers another way to preserve and share the places where those stories unfolded.

This project demonstrates how spatial data acquisition, 3D model reconstruction, and visualization applications can work together to document culturally significant locations. It also highlights TBNET's end-to-end service capabilities for 3D digitization projects.

From film locations and historic buildings to museums, cultural venues, tourist attractions, and urban renewal projects, TBNET provides tailored digitalization solutions covering the full project implementation process to meet different application requirements.

An old residence holds the memories of generations. A historic town preserves countless family stories of separation, longing, and homecoming. Films eventually leave the screen, but the places where their stories unfolded deserve to be documented with care.

Through this project, TBNET has created a digital archive of the filming locations featured in A Letter to Grandma, bringing these historic buildings into the digital world and enabling more people to explore Chaoshan's architectural heritage across time and distance.

Looking ahead, TBNET will continue to connect physical spaces with the digital world through professional 3D technologies, creating digital records of valuable buildings and environments that can be experienced and shared, helping places rich in history and emotion remain accessible to future generations.