It’s fairly common knowledge that the idea of copyright protection isn’t exactly adhered to over in China, with plenty of brands seeing counterfeit copies of their products appear not only in the country but also across the world. The problem being that not only are these companies losing out on profits needed to continue R&D, but also these cheaper products generally tend to be inferior, in both materials and build quality. So what if the Chinese set their sights on something bigger, say a whole town for example? Well they’ve done just that.
In a New York Times (NYT) 360-degree video, the news network went to the picturesque town of Hallstatt in Austria, which has been inhabited since pre-historic times and is a UNESCO world heritage site. Whilst deemed unique due to the way it has retained its authenticity, that uniqueness has been taken by the Chinese and replicated in a southern province in 2012.
As with most Chinese reproductions the original town wasn’t consulted on the construction, it turns out they only found out when the project was at an advanced stage.
In the 360 video, NYT split the visuals so you can see both side to side, showing a fairly accurate copy of Hallstatt. Some things were altered however to suit the needs of the developers, like the replica of the church which now features a grand hall for banquets rather than somewhere people worship.
VRFocus will be back on Wednesday with another Life in 360º.