Cybertokyo: A Survey of Public VRtractions

Abstract

As in the Bauhaus movement of the 1930s, artists and engineers are working together on commercial industrial (hardware) and postindustrial (software) design. Japan, a world leader in research and development areas like display technology and robotics, is a fertile environment in which VR [known here sometimes as AR (for artificial reality)] can flourish, both in labs and studios, and as consumer products and services: a confluence of theme parks, amusement centers, retail outlets, and home computer and media centers. Emphasizing the capture, transmission, and reproduction of experience, (literally) sensational VR is upon us, to simulate and stimulate. If it is hyped, or hyper, it is happening around Tokyo. Here is a selective guide to meta-holo-attractions open to the public in “The Big Orange.”