Following on from last year, the Research on synesthetic media group (Takashi Kiriyama Group Leader / Professor, Graduate School of Film and New Media) held an annual briefing session. This group conducts research and development through content creation and presentations based on the themes of "Interface for Cultural Sharing" and "Culture Sharing Through Play and Learning."

In part one, we screened a high-definition CG animation (new work), which takes advantage of the round dome screen that expands the audiences’ view in all directions, on 4F of Arts & Science LAB. to showcase our achievements. We also showcased an interactive animation which only became possible to show on the round dome screen from this year. The audience was amazed at the overwhelming sense of immersion and subtle animation movements.

In part two, together with Prof Mitsuko Okamoto and the students from the Graduate School of Film and New Media, we conducted an experiment with VR, asking participants to experience it, on the assumption that the world of animation could be applied to different fields, such as games.

In part three, in collaboration with the other groups of the Tokyo University of the Arts’ (TUA) COI Site, we introduced a series of works including 3D printed animation which we created with COI member companies such as Yamaha Corporation and Benesse Foundation for Children; science contents; musical performance support apps; and animal hunting apps using AR, as well as inside stories during the production,

At the end, Mr Koki Wakunami from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, a COI member company, delivered a “hologram talk” on world-leading 3D hologram research. This groundbreaking technique was published in ‘Nature Communications’ in 2016, and it is expected to be utilized in a more advanced ways in future. After the presentations, a lively Q&A session took place with the participants.

On the day, we had in attendance Masaaki Miyasako, our Research Leader, along with Akira Yokota, Visionary Leader of Vision 2 and Seiichi Kimoto, Assistant Visionary Leader, who have kindly given us appropriate advice since the start of COI Site, regarding the use of the round dome theater.

We received warm-hearted encouragement from the audience for the trajectory of our activities at the COI Site, which started from nothing.