Since the grand opening of Shibuya’s PARCO, one month ago on November 22, 2019, there has been a record 25,000+ visitors who came to experience the XR* artworks on display throughout the department store. PARCO is a department store leading the way in enhancing the shopping experience by becoming an exclusive location for ‘Experience-Based Media Installations’ where XR technology is used to transform physical shopping into a delightful and virtual experience.
PARCO is actively pursuing the development and practical use of various advanced technologies including XR. XR is a new category of technology that is expected to become the media tool of choice for broadcasting and televising both still and motion graphics. In 2018, PARCO, in a joint collaboration with Psychic VR Lab Co., Ltd. and Loftwork Inc., launched the “NEWVIEW Project,” intending to discover and nurture the next generation of VR content creators. The “NEWVIEW AWARDS 2018” is a part of this project.
Also in 2018, PARCO teamed up with the VR designer, Discont, the winner of the PARCO Prize—a part of the “NEWVIEW AWARDS 2018”—to design, organize, and exhibit new XR artworks which demonstrated the use of this emerging technology. This team up led to the highly anticipated “SHIBUYA XR SHOWCASE”—the main exhibition at the new Shibuya’s PARCO department store.
This month, Shibuya’s PARCO department store reported a record number of customers coming to visit and experience the XR artworks being exhibited at the SHIBUYA XR SHOWCASE. Visitors included a wide spectrum of people, the young and the young at heart, the traditional artists and the art connoisseurs, as well as the mystified and the curious. Some visitors were apprehensive, but still very interested in XR technology and the artworks that were created and on display at PARCO. In the future, PARCO will continue to design and showcase new XR content as an experience-based media installation. PARCO is passionate and excited to be at the cutting edge of XR technology and they hope to continue to regularly share new content with their customers that enhance the shopping experience.
*XR: is a general term combining both the definitions of VR (Virtual Reality) / AR (Augmented Reality)
- 1 Overview of Implemented Projects
- 2 Detailed Information
Overview of Implemented Projects
※The details of each exhibition will be specified hereafter ※The actual visitor numbers are calculated based on the gross number of visits
SHIBUYA XR SHOWCASE
- Exhibition Overview: The exhibition showcases various 3D creative content in the form of virtual artworks. These virtual artworks can be experienced using smartphones or AR glasses or head mounted displays (HMDs). The artworks in the exhibition create an illusion as if they truly existed in the space. For a limited time only, the exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to experience the artworks using several provided HMDs. (Lenovo Mirage Solo).
- Exhibition Period: Permanent exhibition (AR glasses or HMD service will conclude on Sunday, December 22, 2019)
- Number of Visitors: About 18,000 (AR HMD users: 15,000/AR Smartphones users: 3,000)
AKIRA ART WALL—INVISIBLE ART IN PUBLIC—[Concluded]
- Exhibition Overview: The “AKIRA ART WALL” project was once exhibited along the construction barricade wall of the temporarily closed Shibuya PARCO renovation site. The wall showcased 3D art that could be viewed for free through the use of a specified AR application. The exhibition ran for 4 days.
- Exhibition Period: Friday, December 13 to Monday, December 16, 2019. From 17:00 to 21:00
- Number of Visitors: about 750
NEWVIEW EXHIBITION 2019 – DIFFUSION <and> NEWVIEW STAND [Concluded]
- Exhibition Overview: The exhibition offered visitors the opportunity to experience the artworks developed through the “NEWVIEW Project”—a project intended to discover and nurture the next generation of VR creators and designers.
- Exhibition Period: Saturday, December 14 to Sunday, December 22, 2019
NEWVIEW STAND: Friday, November 22 to Sunday, December 22, 2019 - Number of Visitors: About 6500 (Visitors to the NEWVIEW EXHIBITION: 5,000 / Visitors to the NEWVIEW STAND: 1,500)
Detailed Information
Experience-Based Media Installation “SHIBUYA XR SHOWCASE” (https://shibuya.parco.jp/page/xr/)
“SHIBUYA XR SHOWCASE”—an “Experience-Based Media Installation” designed for showcasing art, culture, and fashion content under the form of spatial graphics. The installation utilizes XR technologies to create virtual showcases, bringing 3D creative content developed on computers to life. At the exhibition, users can experience artworks as if they truly exist using smartphones or AR glasses or HMDs.
At the grand opening of Shibuya’s PARCO, the SHIBUYA XR SHOWCASE will have on display the artwork of VR designer, Discont. Discont’s “World’s End Supernova” can be viewed at the department store’s atrium on the 5th floor. Additionally, the artwork of graphic designer, Stereo Tennis, in collaboration with, apparel brand, Calif called “#califSHIBUYA” will be on display on the 5th floor near the passage to the outdoor area.
World’s End Supernova: Discont
Without using any physical equipment for support, this installation takes on the challenge of captivating the visitors’ attention with just its developed virtual content shared throughout an empty atrium. The scene of many visitors moving around an empty room while wearing head-mounted displays captured the attention of many curious shoppers. Although some shoppers were apprehensive, their curiosity still got the best of them. These curious shoppers spanned a wide range of ages. It didn’t take them long to decide to join in the experience.
#califSHIBUYA: calif × Stereo Tennis
By scanning the specified AR markers located on the center of the wall art with their devices, visitors can experience a virtual space filled with objects popping out from the drawn art. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the exhibition is one of the department store’s virtual photo spots. The spectacle of many 3D objects filling out an empty space is indeed a treat to the eye, capturing the attention of many curious visitors.
Many AR artworks can be shared easily and in many different locations by simply installing the markers used for calling the contents at the point of interest. Using this characteristic, PARCO has also launched these exhibitions in Fukuoka’s PARCO.
*XR SHOWCASE—FUKUOKA TOUR—: https://fukuoka.parco.jp/pnews/detail/?id=5319
“AKIRA ART WALL—INVISIBLE ART IN PUBLIC—,” A Digital Archive of a Cultural Asset
The “AKIRA ART WALL” project was once exhibited along the construction barricade wall of the temporarily closed Shibuya PARCO renovation site which lasted for three years until it was removed in November 2019. This digital public art exhibition was called “AKIRA ART WALL—INVISIBLE ART IN PUBLIC—,” which could be viewed by using a dedicated smartphone application which allowed visitors to catch a glimpse of the once exhibited “AKIRA ART WALL.” In addition to the outside “AKIRA ART WALL” exhibit, there was the exhibition “AKIRA ART WALL—INVISIBLE ART IN PUBLIC—” which was on display for four days inside Shibuya’s PARCO, from December 13 to December 16, 2019. These two exhibits left lasting impressions on people. The “AKIRA ART WALL—INVISIBLE ART IN PUBLIC—” exhibition invoked a lot of fond memories of the original AKIRA ART WALL with many visitors.
In Cooperation With:
渋谷エンタメテック推進プロジェクト (“Shibuya Entertainment × Technologies Promotion PROJECT”)
Psychic VR Lab Co., Ltd.
“NEWVIEW EXHIBITION 2019 – DIFFUSION – Bringing New 3D Expressions to the Stage
The exhibition “NEWVIEW EXHIBITION—DIFFUSION” was launched to give visitors an opportunity to experience the 25 artworks which made it into the finalist list of the “NEWVIEW AWARDS 2019”. The exhibition served as the stage for the “NEWVIEW AWARDS 2019” ceremony. This year, the Gold Award—the grand prize of the “NEWVIEW AWARDS 2019”—went to Takkun (Kindergartner)’s “Takkun Museum,” an artwork that recorded the growth of a young child, a future creator. In addition to the Gold Award winner, there were the Silver Award winners and five other award winning artworks which received a variety of prizes in this year’s ceremony.
The “NEWVIEW AWARDS” was first launched as a part of the “NEWVIEW” project—an experimental/community project launched in January 2018 to pioneer new forms of creative expressions and methods for designing new experiences in the three-dimensional space—in 2018. The VR space designer Discont, the first winner of the PARCO Prize, later collaborated with PARCO to design “World’s End Supernova,” a permanent installation currently being displayed at Shibuya’s PARCO.
The second “NEWVIEW AWARDS” held in 2019 had gathered 145 entries from 8 different countries. Of the 145 entries, 25 of them were chosen to join the finalist list.
A New Collaboration With Ono Natsuki—The Winner Of The Second PARCO Prize—Is Under Way
Similar to Discont who has won the first PARCO Prize, with her artwork “ne.mui” which explored the boundaries within unconsciousness, Ono Natsuki—the winner of the second PARCO Prize, a part of the “NEWVIEW AWARDS 2019”—was awarded the rights to develop and exhibit her artwork at Shibuya’s PARCO. A new exhibition, born from this new collaboration, will soon be available at Shibuya’s PARCO.
■Platform: STYLY (Psychic VR Lab Co., Ltd.)
The XR Creative Platform “STYLY” was chosen as the main platform for developing, publishing, and broadcasting artworks developed by artists for the exhibitions described in this article.
https://styly.cc/
■Contact Information
PARCO LTD.
For inquiries or consultation regarding interviews: Public Relations/IR Department: Yoshida (03-3477-5710) (Japan)
For inquiries regarding XR-related projects and efforts: Group Digital Promotion Division/Head of Digital Promotion Division: Ando (03-3477-5218/ando-toshi@parco.jp) (Japan)
Psychic VR Lab Co., Ltd.
For inquiries regarding the XR Creative Platform “STYLY”: Watanabe (info@psychic-vr-lab.com) (Japan)