Digital torchbearer program for Asian Games unveiled

The digital torchbearer program for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 was unveiled on Sunday during the 300-day countdown to the event in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

The Asian Games, originally scheduled for September this year, will now be held from Sept 23 to Oct 8, 2023.

Husain Al-Musallam, director-general of the Olympic Council of Asia, offered his appreciation to those who have contributed to the Games' preparation and has invited people all over the world to become Asian Games' digital torchbearers.

"I was delighted to hear that today Hangzhou will launch the Asian Games Digital Avatar Platform, a pioneering effort, and unveil the Asian Games digital torchbearer," he said on Sunday in a video message. "This is the first online torchbearer in the history of the Asian Games, a remarkable achievement for Hangzhou in its efforts to host a smart Asian Games."

Creating a digital torchbearer for the Games will allow ordinary people to participate, according to Zhang Ge, deputy director of the Radio, Television, and Information Technology Department of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee.

The committee will continue to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality and improve the interactive capabilities of the digital platform in the future, thus providing audiences with more immersive experiences, Zhang said.

More than 200,000 people so far have created virtual images for the Games on the Smart Hangzhou 2022 mini-program on Alipay.

Fans can watch the video to find out more about the digital torchbearer program.

Fang Xiaoying in Hangzhou contributed to this story.