Virtual world view

Virtual world view

Attention is being paid to the convenient world where the trials currently recommended in various places have a new sense of the world. High-speed data communication is advancing and the world is about to change dramatically. A new market is created by linking the virtual and the real world. This time, I would like to introduce an article about the trial being conducted in Shibuya, Tokyo.

The birth of a virtual space officially recognized by Shibuya Ward. I can see what the city should be like in the post-corona era

Image: © ︎ KDDI ・ au5G / Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project

The continuous Metaverse creates surprises and connections.

It's only about half since 2020 started, but what if the recent changes in the world? The promotion of new lifestyles by the Corona Surgery is changing work styles and daily lives around the world. The office is recreated online by teleworking, and even drinking parties are held online. In such an era, the key to virtual reality is the virtual reality element.

Earlier, an online platform called "Virtual Shibuya by au 5G" was opened. This is part of the Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project by the tag of KDDI CORPORATION x Shibuya Mirai Design x Shibuya Ward Tourism Association.

Image: © ︎ KDDI ・ au5G / Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project

As the name suggests, it is a space that reproduces the streets of Shibuya in virtual reality, and anyone can access it for free (no VR device required). What is interesting is that this VR Shibuya is officially recognized by Shibuya Ward. A virtual space officially recognized by the ward. Somehow, it suddenly came to SF, or the government-approved virtual reality didn't come to mind ...

Now to the world of "Virtual Shibuya"!

Anyway, it's a fact that looks interesting. It opened on May 19th (Tuesday), so I went there immediately. "Virtual Shibuya" is deployed on the virtual SNS platform "Cluster". In the case of a PC, if you download the Cluster app in advance and then access the official website, it will skip to the app and you can log in. You can log in to your smartphone directly from the app.

Image: Yamada Yuus type

When I got off, it was Shibuya, which was insanely reproduced. When you stand at the scrambled intersection, you can see the Keio Inokashira Line on the far left and the entrance to the subway!

Image: Yamada Yuus type

In front of JR Shibuya Station Hachiko. There are green trains and Tokyu Department Store. The virtual space should have nothing to do with reality, but when it is drawn as Shibuya so realistically, I realize that the virtual reality of Shibuya is exactly what it is. In this way, the "virtual Shibuya" you see at home and the real Shibuya are immediately connected in your brain. The net (virtual) is vast ...

Image: Yamada Yuus type

On the day of delivery, the opening event "#Shibuya Ghost in the Shell NIGHT by au 5G" was held. Chinatsu Wakatsuki, Naohiro Ukawa, the representative of DOMMUNE, DJ LOVE of SEKAI no OWARI, and Ange Katrina of Virtual YouTuber have appeared as MCs as avatars. The fact that celebrities, artists and VTuber are lined up with avatars has a feeling of a next-generation event.

Ukawa-san's avatar is wearing a black hat, and Wakatsuki Chinatsu-san's avatar is a pink suit. Of course, the actual people participate remotely, but it is unique to virtual reality that you can walk around the space with general users in this way. If you try to do it in reality, it will be difficult.

What was interesting was that Mr. Ukawa said, "I want to go beyond the center town to Cisco in Shibuya (a record shop in Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku until 2007)." Isn't it an emo guy who thinks about a real place while moving in a virtual space? I think it's a word that came out because I felt the connection with reality in the virtual space, which is different from exploring the area around my parents' house with Google Earth.

XR content that links real and virtual
An element that promotes this sensibility is what is called XR content, which is another aim of "Virtual Shibuya". By developing the same content for both real and virtual, you can feel them in a continuous manner. XR is also called cross-reality, alternative reality.

For example, in the case of "Virtual Shibuya" this time, advertisements for the anime "Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045" being released on Netflix are displayed everywhere in the space. Then, what if the main character, Motoko Kusanagi, is displayed in the 109 cylinder advertisement in virtual space, and the same visual is displayed in the actual 109? Don't you think "real and virtual are connected!"?

XR seems to be able to do various things. You can explore the real world according to the mystery solved in the virtual space, and when you are having an event at 109 in "Virtual Shibuya", you can try something in the real 109, and the image will expand. In "Ghost in the Shell," Batou said, "Everything that exists, whether it's a simulated experience or a dream, is reality, and an illusion." Thus, the illusion is connected to reality, and our experience expands. ..

Photo: © ︎ KDDI ・ au5G / Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project

In recent years, KDDI has been accelerating its efforts on XR, such as developing XR content at the media art festival "MUTEK.JP" ...

I have been involved in the art exhibition "INVISIBLE ART IN PUBLIC" that turns the city of Shibuya into an art museum.

As you can see, the XR is one of the virtual viewpoints that appeared around 2018, but if you ride the wave of virtual promotion these days, I feel that it will be even more interesting.

A virtual space officially recognized by Shibuya Ward. Its significance is
There are examples of events in a virtual space with reality, but there are not many cases where the city of the head family officially recognizes the virtual city. If the actual Shibuya is the front side, "Virtual Shibuya" is like the back side. Shibuya in the game "Persona 5 Scramble" was behind the scenes of cognition, but "Virtual Shibuya" can be said to be a pseudo-city created by technology.

Image: © ︎ KDDI ・ au5G / Shibuya 5G Entertainment Project

If you go one step further and strengthen the relationship between the front and back by developing XR content, the information will be multi-layered and the city (and virtual space) will be very deep. Because it feels like "Access Shibuya from home!" Or something like that, but with "Virtual Shibuya" you can do that and it makes sense to access it. Therefore, high-speed communication is also important in order to draw a world view that is closer to reality. Hey, 5G comes into play.

Corona wreck has demanded that people cut off their connections, but we have invented more and more ways to connect in ways other than physics. The search for virtual is one of them, and I felt that this "Virtual Shibuya" also serves to connect people who have been cut off by the nest and the city.

It is said that the area where you can walk will increase in the future, and if you can do shopping and events in "Virtual Shibuya", it may finally become a substitute reality at the city level. If you dive with a VR head-mounted display, you may be able to experience a cyber experience similar to that of Ghost in the Shell, which is virtual but has a real Shibuya feeling !?

You can see the state of the "Virtual Shibuya" opening event in this archive. Please try the virtual city bra.