Heritage education is a key approach to preserving and transmitting a community’s history and culture embedded in its collective memory, fostering social cohesion, and cultivating a sense of identity among different populations. Bridging the gap between historical narratives and contemporary audiences is central to promoting educational outcomes. In recent years, rapid advances in digital technologies have provided unprecedented opportunities for the preservation, inheritance, and dissemination of cultural heritage. Virtual reality (VR), with its ability to create three-dimensional representations of real or imagined locations, provides a compelling sense of realism, illustrating its potential for various applications in cultural heritage preservation, such as 3D historical reconstruction, enhanced tourism engagement, gamified learning, and pedagogical cultural heritage programs. This mini-review focuses on VR-enhanced heritage education, a field that involves transdisciplinary studies on the dynamics of user engagement and virtual experiences tailored for cultural heritage education. The aim of this mini-review is to investigate the current status, identify limitations, and outline prospective design considerations for integrating VR technology into heritage education. In this study, we will provide insights into future design considerations for designers, developers, and educators in order to create better heritage education experiences, contributing to developing interactive approaches to heritage education.

Semiconductor-based gas sensors are of great interest in both industrial and research settings, but poor selectivity has hindered their further development. Current efforts including doping, surface modifications and facet controlling have been proved effective. However, the “methods-selectivity” correlation is ambiguous because of uncontrollable defects and surface states during the experiments. Here, as a case study, using a DFT method, we studied the adsorption features of commonly tested gases—CH₂O, H₂, C₂H₅OH, CH₃COCH₃, and NH_3—on facets of $\mathrm{ZnO}\left(000\overline{1}\right)$, $\mathrm{ZnO}\left(10\overline{1}0\right)$ and $\mathrm{ZnO}\left(10\overline{1}1\right)$. The adsorption energies and charge transfers were calculated, and adsorption selectivity was analyzed. The results show $\mathrm{ZnO}\left(000\overline{1}\right)$ has obvious CH₂O adsorption selectivity; $\mathrm{ZnO}\left(10\overline{1}0\right)$ has a slight selectivity to C₂H₅OH and NH₃; and $\mathrm{ZnO}\left(10\overline{1}1\right)$ has a slight selectivity to H₂, which agrees with the experimental results. The mechanism of the selective adsorption features was studied in terms of polarity, geometric matching and electronic structure matching. The results show the adsorption selectivity is attributed to a joint effort of electronic structure matching and geometric matching: the former allows for specific gas/slab interactions, the latter decides the strength of the interactions. As the sensing mechanism is probably dominated by gas–lattice interactions, this work is envisioned to be helpful in designing new sensing material with high selectivity.

Environmental monitoring plays an important role in the preventive protection of ancient buildings, although it is still in the prototype stage. In order to provide data support for the protection of ancient buildings, an environmental monitoring system with multi-sensor and multi-node for the interior and exterior of ancient buildings is designed and realized, based on ZigBee, TCP/IP, and intranet penetration technology. The new type of indoor node package box and outdoor package device are designed to meet the needs of different types of sensors. The monitoring platform is developed on the strength of the LabView so as to obtain real-time display, storage, and over-limit warning functions for local and remote monitoring data. It also proves that the monitoring system is stable and reliable by monitoring the actual ancient building with a brick (stone) structure.

In the context of sustainability, the development of optical fiber sensing technology and 3D printing technology brings new sustainable manufacturing solutions for the furniture industry. Based on the current status and development situation of the application of optical fiber sensing technology and 3D-printed furniture, this paper proposes the concept of applying embedded optical fiber sensing technology to traditional furniture manufacturing as the intersection of traditional furniture design and 3D printing technology. This design method is applied in furniture design cases, the stability of the 3D-printed structure after the optical fiber is embedded in the structure is verified through experiments, and the integration of the embedded optical fiber light-inducing and monitoring technology is used to assess the intelligence of furniture. It is found that by applying optical fiber sensors to furniture intelligence, the real-time monitoring of the environment, temperature, humidity, and other parameters during the use of furniture can be achieved, thus improving the energy efficiency and comfort of furniture. This innovative design idea and method provides a new direction for the sustainable development of furniture products and encourages the furniture industry to move forward in a more environmentally friendly and intelligent direction.

This study investigates the impact of spatial changes over a 400-year period on the summer microclimate of a residential courtyard in China. Using ENVI-met simulations, we analyze how factors such as courtyard orientation, building height, and opening positions affect the thermal environment. The results show that east–west-oriented courtyards experienced 0.2–0.4 °C lower daytime temperatures compared to north–south ones. Additionally, taller surrounding buildings increased the courtyard’s average daytime temperature by approximately 0.3–0.5 °C, while courtyards with a single opening facing the prevailing wind maintained the lowest temperatures. These findings underscore the importance of historical spatial characteristics in shaping microclimates and offer key insights for contemporary urban planning. By incorporating design strategies based on these historical spatial features, such as optimizing courtyard orientation, enhancing building height variability, and creating appropriate openings for natural ventilation, urban planners can improve microclimate conditions, reduce reliance on mechanical cooling, and enhance energy efficiency. This approach not only contributes to lowering carbon emissions but also boosts resilience to extreme heat events in urban areas, especially in regions facing rapid urbanization and climate change challenges.