ARIP: An Interactive Framework for Digital Dissemination of Yangzhou Paper-Cutting

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) embodies collective memory and creative practices, yet many traditions rooted in manual skills and oral transmission face increasing risk under globalization. Conventional digital documentation—such as images, videos, and static visualizations—provides archival value but offers limited support for computational style analysis and lacks real-time interactivity, particularly for engaging younger audiences. To address these limitations, this paper proposes ARIP, an integrative design framework for the AI-assisted interactive dissemination of pattern-based ICH. Using Yangzhou paper-cutting as a case study, ARIP organizes four complementary design functions—AI-mediated style modeling, real-time response, interactive participation, and pattern-oriented visual constraints—within a unified implementation process. A user study with secondary school students assessed self-reported engagement using the User Engagement Scale (UES). Participants in the interactive condition reported higher engagement across the measured UES dimensions than those in the conventional digital-material condition. Qualitative feedback further suggests that the interactive experience encouraged participants to attend to the visual characteristics and culturally associated motifs of paper-cutting. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the feasibility of ARIP in the Yangzhou paper-cutting case and suggest its potential as a design reference for future AI-assisted interactive heritage applications.