THE BRIDGE

tag virtual reality

The Bridge’s guide to VR hotspots in Tokyo (2017 new year edition)

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo’s Shibuya, aka Bit Valley, has long been the home of Japanese startups, with FinTech stationed in Otemachi, hardware in Akihabara, bioscience in Nihonbashi, and so on, but it appears startup hubs are popping up all over the place. So, I wondered where hot topic sectors like virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality related startups are gathering, thus the topic for this article was born. A number of VR arcades have appeared in Seoul and Shanghai and they play a role in introducing VR to general (not VR-savvy or VR-enthusiast) consumers. According to experts, in the US it seems that VR startups are starting to gather around Silicon Beach LA, from Santa Clara which is very near Hollywood (the mecca of the video and entertainment industry) to Venice Beach. In London they are appearing in Shoreditch, an area of Tech City. Is this where Tokyo’s VR startup hubs will gather? I walked around the city over the New Year while mulling this over. Future Tech Hub, an incubation facility specializing in VR, newly opened in December Future Tech Hub is Japan’s first incubation facility specialized in VR, as well as a coworking space…

Image credit: theendup / 123RF + bee32 / 123RF

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo’s Shibuya, aka Bit Valley, has long been the home of Japanese startups, with FinTech stationed in Otemachi, hardware in Akihabara, bioscience in Nihonbashi, and so on, but it appears startup hubs are popping up all over the place. So, I wondered where hot topic sectors like virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality related startups are gathering, thus the topic for this article was born.

A number of VR arcades have appeared in Seoul and Shanghai and they play a role in introducing VR to general (not VR-savvy or VR-enthusiast) consumers. According to experts, in the US it seems that VR startups are starting to gather around Silicon Beach LA, from Santa Clara which is very near Hollywood (the mecca of the video and entertainment industry) to Venice Beach. In London they are appearing in Shoreditch, an area of Tech City.

Is this where Tokyo’s VR startup hubs will gather? I walked around the city over the New Year while mulling this over.

Future Tech Hub, an incubation facility specializing in VR, newly opened in December

VR startups working hard at Future Tech Hub
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

Future Tech Hub is Japan’s first incubation facility specialized in VR, as well as a coworking space and opened December 14. It is 5 minutes walking from Kayabacho station. In addition to investing in The Venture Reality Fund, they are operated jointly by Gumi (TSE: 3903) and Breakpoint. Gumi is managed by Tokyo VR Startups, an incubator specializing in VR. Breakpoint has been developing incubation facilities in Tokyo since 2004.

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Tokyo VR Startups regularly develop incubation batches, with the Future Tech Hub raising VR startups until they can participate in these batches, the goal being to produce graduates capable of renting their own offices, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. According to Yasuchika Wakayama, CEO of Breakpoint, leading Japanese VR startups Yomuneco (led by journalist Kiyoshi Shin who has written numerous books related to the gaming industry) and Ouka-Ichimon (offering content production and consulting service specializing in the Oculus VR head-mounted display) have set up operations bases there.

Breakpoint CEO Yasuchika Wakayama (right) and Tokyo VR Startups’ Tatsuya Kurohama (left)
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

The theme of incubation is how to raise the business value of a startup in its early stage. Information about what kinds of hardware and software are up and coming filters down to us through our networks and we believe this could be helpful for startups.

Wakayama remarked.

On top of that, one the biggest advantages Silicon Valley has is the close proximity of startups and the market. For example, when an entrepreneur needs to meet with someone from Google to inspect their product, they can do it immediately. And they’ll know who to talk with at Pixar. We want to be able to provide this kind of information and create a similar environment.

He continued.

(In the context of open innovation) We are also getting inquiries from major Japanese companies. We are gathering information on what big companies are looking for in startups so, in turn, startups will be able to launch the products that the market wants more efficiently.

High-spec machines and an area to perform test and demonstrations are necessary when developing VR. At Future Tech Hub they have Galleria gaming computers produced by Thirdwave, HTC Vive from HTC, and cloud services from Amazon Web Services. Tenant startups can use these resources free of charge. Since the studio space for chroma key can be shared by several companies it is also economical.

Among the VR related materials placed by the entrance, there are also documents written by tenants.
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

From Future Tech Hub it is a five minute walk along the Nihonbashi River to the Tokyo VR Startups base of operations, and it is expected that the two will share more than just close proximity. They have the power to function as a coworking space, but they have set the conditions for becoming a tenant high in seeking those that will contribute greatly to the VR startup community. Currently there are four corporations and one individual in fixed seats, with three more corporations in free seats and they want to increase this to 30 teams by the end of the year.

Gumi, which is jointly managing Future Tech Lab indirectly, is also jointly developing an incubation program in Korea called Seoul VR Startups. One foreseeable outcome is that VR startups from Korea in Japan using Future Tech Lab as their base.

VR Space

VR Space’s Co-founder and Executive Producer Akihito Ninomiya (left)
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

While our event space / live streaming studio The Bridge X is situated in Shibuya 2-chome, near Aoyama Gakuin University, at nearly the same time we moved our base there, the VR experience space VR Space opened in the same area. It is produced by serial entrepreneur Akihito Ninomiya, who previously operated the Talentio recruitment service (the hatch that operated Talentio was acquired by Ximera  in September 2015).

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VR Space offers 6 booths, each with various VR gaming experiences using HTC Vive. (Currently, they are not licensed to use Oculus Rift, which is not available for direct sales to consumers; only HTC Vive is available.) They are in a favorable location facing Aoyama Street, with couples stopping in on dates, and groups of company employees dropping by for a little recreation. Foreign users have also increased, and recently it seems they had to prepare Chinese manuals and customer guides in a rush.

A portion of the VR titles installed on the machine
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

For Ninomiya, VR Space is not only an arcade, but can also be used as a marketing base for developers of VR content, with the expectation that they could create a scale based on the consulting revenue from the B2B business.

Tech Lab Paak, The Roots, and VR Park Tokyo

Outside of VR Park Tokyo
Image credit: Masaru Ikeda

Recruit Holdings (TSE: 6098) opened its Acceleration Course specializing in VR from the 6th batch of last year’s Tech Lab Paak startup accelerator in Shibuya. Readers may recall that a number of VR startups were introduced during the demo day for the 6th batch.

Additionally, Colopl Next, which is a fund specializing in VR, has developed an incubation space called The Roots in Shibuya.  Although The Roots is especially for student entrepreneurship support and is not necessarily a facility for VR startups, some kind of synergy may be expected between the fund specializing in VR and the VR startups they invest in.

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Gree (TSE: 3632), a major internet service provider, along with Adores (TSE: 4712), a big name game center operator, opened the VR arcade VR Park Tokyo in Shibuya in December of last year to showcase attractions developed jointly by both companies. In November of 2015, Gree opened Gree VR Studio as a department specializing in the development of VR content, and it appears that the new titles created there can be experienced in Shibuya first. As we could not arrange an interview in time for this article, the interview released by the Japan Times has been posted below.

Translated by Amanda Imasaka
Edited by Masaru Ikeda

Japan’s Fuji TV, Gree join forces to boost virtual reality businesses

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This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. Tokyo-based private broadcaster Fuji TV and online gaming giant Gree recently established “F x G VR Works (tentative name)” based on an agreement to collaborate in developing business and services including content production / distribution as well as platform construction related to Virtual Reality (VR). This project seeks to combine the strengths of the nationally-networked television broadcaster and Gree, which has game and Web development prowess in addition to having announced its first VR title at the Tokyo Game Show in September of 2015. In connection with such moves the Tokyo-based tech company established its GREE VR Studio last November. Moreover, it has also been a linchpin figure at the Japan VR Summit which was held on May 10th and gathered many of the leading-edge players in this industry. Furthermore it has just this April established an investment fund focused on VR start-ups in the Americas. It is said that VR technology can be applied not only to entertainment such as visual programmings and games not to mention theme parks but also may be applied widely to use in the…

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


gree-naoki-aoyagi-fuji-tv-makoto-yamaguchi
L to R: Naoki Aoyagi (SVP of Business Division, Gree), Makoto Yamaguchi (Senior Executive Director of Content Creation, Fuji Television Network)

Tokyo-based private broadcaster Fuji TV and online gaming giant Gree recently established “F x G VR Works (tentative name)” based on an agreement to collaborate in developing business and services including content production / distribution as well as platform construction related to Virtual Reality (VR). This project seeks to combine the strengths of the nationally-networked television broadcaster and Gree, which has game and Web development prowess in addition to having announced its first VR title at the Tokyo Game Show in September of 2015.

In connection with such moves the Tokyo-based tech company established its GREE VR Studio last November. Moreover, it has also been a linchpin figure at the Japan VR Summit which was held on May 10th and gathered many of the leading-edge players in this industry. Furthermore it has just this April established an investment fund focused on VR start-ups in the Americas.

japan-vr-summit
Japan VR Summit, Tokyo (May 10th, 2016)

It is said that VR technology can be applied not only to entertainment such as visual programmings and games not to mention theme parks but also may be applied widely to use in the medical and scientific research arenas. 2016 is said to be the break-out year for VR, with Oculus VR having started shipping in March of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) and HTC commencing its HTC Vive product from April. The Sony entertainment unit is also planning to begin sales of its PlayStation VR in October to further expand VR use.

Fuji TV is running from last year within the Fuji TV On Demand (FOD) integrated entertainment service its next-gen image distribution tech-based R&D endeavor “FOD Labo” which offers 360° panoramic VR content along with a 360° VR live performance coverage for the “Love music” TV program. With the collaboration, Fuji TV and Gree will henceforth create more opportunities to experience VR and help this market to develop further in this promising new field that could grow rapidly. For further info, access http://www.fgworks.jp (Japanese).

Fuji TV's FOD Labo
Fuji TV’s FOD Labo

Disclosure: Fuji TV is an investor in The Bridge.

Japanese team creates the latest virtual cycling Streetview hack, with some clever additions

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See our report on this in Japanese Stationary exercise bikes can be pretty boring if you have nothing interesting ahead of you. But here’s a fun hack from Tokyo-based KeyValue Inc that lets you take a virtual bicycle ride though various cities around the world. The system makes use if Google Streetview imagery, displayed on a screen in front of a stationary bike – hardly the real thing, but it’s certainly a fun way to make your exercise more interesting. Using a combination of their own homemade hardware, plus a bike, an iPad, and an external display, the group has created a way to cycle through real-world locations on Google Streetview. In addition to these basic visuals, they have added some other fun elements as well, including an electric fan that blows wind in your hair when you’re going fast. There’s also a fun steering mechanism whereby the rider wears a helmet equipped with an accelerometer, and merely tilts to either side when they wish to make a turn. I don’t quite understand all the technical details, but it seems that a magnetic sensor on the bike detects the rider’s pedaling motion, and conveys an estimated speed to the server,…

virtual-cycling-streetview

See our report on this in Japanese

Stationary exercise bikes can be pretty boring if you have nothing interesting ahead of you. But here’s a fun hack from Tokyo-based KeyValue Inc that lets you take a virtual bicycle ride though various cities around the world. The system makes use if Google Streetview imagery, displayed on a screen in front of a stationary bike – hardly the real thing, but it’s certainly a fun way to make your exercise more interesting.

Using a combination of their own homemade hardware, plus a bike, an iPad, and an external display, the group has created a way to cycle through real-world locations on Google Streetview. In addition to these basic visuals, they have added some other fun elements as well, including an electric fan that blows wind in your hair when you’re going fast. There’s also a fun steering mechanism whereby the rider wears a helmet equipped with an accelerometer, and merely tilts to either side when they wish to make a turn.

I don’t quite understand all the technical details, but it seems that a magnetic sensor on the bike detects the rider’s pedaling motion, and conveys an estimated speed to the server, which then updates the Streetview display accordingly.

To see the system in action, check out the video overview and demonstration below.

Of course, there have been other examples of this sort of hack in the past. The earliest one that I know of is Aki Mimoto who did something similar way back in 2009. He implemented a head-mounted Vusix display though, which was pretty neat.

On a related note, I have my own iMac/bicycle mashup (aka ‘the desk-cycle’) at home. Perhaps I’ll use hyperlapse to make a virtual road, and open a window to get some wind in my hair!