A Study on the Cultural Content of Youngsanjae by Using VR Technology

Healing means “healing” that “repairs or heals a disease or wound, or appeases, recuperates, cleanses, cleanses the mind, etc. “The healing industry is a high-growth industry with an estimated annual growth of around 15 percent, with the healing tour market involving herbal medicine, healing, meditation, beauty, spa, nature and forest healing estimated at 2.36 trillion won in 2017. It is expected that demand for healing contents using VR technology will increase as development of contents on healing and for therapeutic purposes that are used for pre-research and clinical cases on PTSD showing that virtual reality technologies help ease depression, anxiety and stress.VR technology is being advanced from visual and auditory center to virtual world representation technology, interaction technology, and multi-participation technology, and it is expected to be used to develop healing contents that require various senses and technologies. In addition, to develop content that is effective for healing, the archetype contents that are used for long-term by various people are needed. Then the possibility of healing contents is suggested based on the meaning contained in the Buddhist ritual ‘Yeongsanjae’. Yeongsanjae is Korea’s representative Buddhist art with a majestic Buddhist ritual that recreates the Yeongsanhoesang, where the Buddha used to preach “law scenes” to the masses gathered at Yeongchaksan Mountain in India more than 2,500 years ago, and has a strong comprehensive artistic element that combines dance, music and art. Although Yeongsanjae’s ritual is for conveying religious messages, functional elements for healing the mind, which wash the anguish and give it a clean mind, these archetype resources can be used as an important source of healing content for modern people’s mind treatment. This paper examined the meaning con- tained in the ritual that constitutes “Yeongsanjae,” an intangible heritage registered with UNESCO, and presented step-by-step measures for the development of healing contents combined with VR/AR technology and the availability of healing contents.