Welcome to the 2012 Study Abroad program in Japan!
Tokyo, Japan
Welcome,
My name is Ralph Broad and I am participating in the Technology, Culture, and Games Study Abroad Program through Michigan State University.
Technology Review: Augmented Reality (JR East and NTT DoCoMo)
One of the things that I got to experience for the first time on our trip was the technology of Augmented Reality (AR). This technology is a mix of real and virtual worlds. Essentially, it superimposes graphics and images from computer screens and puts them in place of the real world. Augmented Reality was demonstrated to us by various companies such as NTT DoCoMo and JR East. However, JR East really had this technology out in various forms for our group to fully explore. What is also interesting is how this technology is now associated with mobile devices, something I was never fully aware of prior to this trip.
JR East: Augmented Reality on a tablet
At JR East, there were several examples of AR at work. One example of this is the JR * AR model. This is still a work in progress and currently they are working on the field trial tests, which means this technology is only applicable to Tokyo Station currently. These tests, however, should be finished by the end of June. One of the key aspects of this technology is its association with iPhone but is now available on Android devices as well. The ultimate goal is to help commuters find their way around the station by pointing their mobile device towards an AR Marker which senses the mobile device, ultimately leading to a 3D map popping up on their phone (which is the augmented reality). This map can show locations of information counters, stairwells, restrooms, and other essential features of the train station. At Tokyo Station, they have 27 different sites for this technology (27 Markers) and since that station is so large, it only reinforces how beneficial this technology can be for those who use the train systems regularly.
NTT DoCoMo also had this technology for us to explore as well. In this example, it was based on putting on a pair of goggles while looking at a book or magazine. What is even more interesting is that the reading material had absolutely nothing to do with the AR views (in fact it was a book on home design!), but was somehow integrated with the goggles! Also, the AR is actually shown on a projector (as well as the view within the goggles), but was dependent on how the person looked at the magazine. In one case, I really found it quite neat to see 3D buildings popping up and down as you moved your head around. Since it was the skyline of Yokohama, I really found the graphics quite neat and accurate as well. Also, the field of view changed as you moved the book or magazine around. By that, sometimes it was an overhead view or a view from the side. While not as complex as the JR East technology (at least the model we got to test), it was still beneficial to experience it for the first time and to be more aware of this technology(which was the case at NTT Docomo).
AR Goggles at NTT DoCoMo
Augmented Reality at work!
In general, I believe this technology is more than capable of getting better and in the case of the JR East company, it’ll be one of high importance with so many people relying on station information. The NTT DoCoMo model was nice to see the technology at work and in goggle form. These two visits aren’t the only examples of AR at work because we also saw them at Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) Art Exhibit, but certainly JR East and NTT were very influential in getting me to really see the technology at work.
Final Reflections of Japan: Hospitality, Attitudes and Other Last Thoughts
I’m finally back home, but all I can say is how impressed I was after staying in Japan for the last three weeks. Not only with how much there was to do and see there, but the people will always stick out to me the most.
I was treated very well the entire time and I couldn’t help but notice how people did a fantastic job minding their own business when walking between places and weren’t interested in making things a problem. When things did happen, they made sure they apologized and kept it from being a bigger issue.
Also, in terms of their attitudes, I really thought the Japanese people showed a great deal of patience with many things. I noted this on an earlier post at the shopping malls, but even in subways stops where competition was fierce to get inside the train, they really didn’t seem to make a big issue out of it. In comparison, a few foreigners (don’t think they were Americans, hopefully) at Narita airport were verbally showing their displeasure about waiting in line due to a slight delay. While those two were different situations, I was primarily impressed in how they didn’t show anything publicly in those situations, when I may have been a little more tense (to say the least).
I’ll always be appreciative of how helpful the Japanese were in terms of finding directions to places. I’ll never forget a man from Shanghai (his name is escaping me, unfortunately) who was actually from Osaka and was very knowledgeable about the area. Thankfully, he made sure I was going the right way, because the Osaka JR system can be quite tricky. Generally, the people had no issues answering my questions, which was a huge life saver in my trip!
I really felt the best about all of this when my plane from Tokyo was backing up from the tarmac and a group of four airport employees all waved and bowed towards our plane. To me, that was truly amazing. I never thought I’d see that but it really showed how hospitable and friendly the Japanese were and it was a perfect way to end a great experience in Japan.
Narita Employees Waving Towards My Plane
To wrap it all up, the three weeks I spent were some of the greatest I’ve ever had. I was glad to be a part of such a great group through Michigan State University and I’ll never forget the experiences in Japan. There’s no doubt I’ll be back, but this was at least a great start to future journeys to Japan.
Tokyo Shopping Experience
Now that our program is officially done, I have three days on my own to fully explore Tokyo. No doubt this gave me a chance to catch up on some shopping, something I hardly did much of earlier.
Shibuya Shopping District
The great thing about a large place like Tokyo are its variety of shops. In some cases, there major name brands in Shibuya and Ginza (Rolex, H&M, Forever 21, Body Shop), but also some Japanese department stores all over Tokyo(Yodobashi, Seibu, etc.) Personally, I really enjoyed the small shops over in Asakusa, as I really liked the souvenir collecting this trip. More importantly, it wasn’t that expensive (I spent around 2300 yen for four items).
Askusa Shopping District
While it was nice to have my particular niche, I also enjoyed finding stores randomly and exploring. In Ginza, I happened to stop at Toy Park Ginza and it was incredible seeing all sorts of things available. Sometimes the best shopping experiences can pop out of nowhere.
The people at all of the stores I went to (whether or not I got anything is another issue) seemed to enjoy themselves. Back home, shopping can be a stressful experience but I didn’t necessarily find that the case in Japan. Of course, it might help that I was in the stores when they weren’t horribly crowded.
All in all, it was a fun time to get some stuff for back home and to finally see Tokyo’s well-known shopping areas firsthand. I learned new things along the way in terms of shopping and maybe I’ll see how it goes next time I’m back.
Farewell Dinner: Yakiniku
Yakiniku-Cooking Meat
After our visits to the companies yesterday (DNP and FutureScope), we finally had a fantastic Japanese dining experience to end our trip. Yakinuku is where we grill our own meats and vegetables right there at our table. It was just one of many different elements of Japanese cuisine that made my experience here even more memorable.
The grill was right in front of us and we all put different things in it, not only meats, but vegetables and seafood as well. I thought it was fun doing mixing different things.
Yakiniku
My favorite meat was by far the beef and cow tongue. I also had some pretty good shrimp but did not care for the intestines, however. That said, it was incredible just eating all of that meat and it was very filling for sure. We also had a pretty large salad, bowl of soup, and rice to complement our meats.
Besides the eating and cooking, it was more fun to bond with our group one last time together. I couldn’t help but chuckle when one of Dr. C’s Japanese colleagues yelled out “GO GREEN!”, to which we responded with the usual “GO WHITE!” for a few times. The reactions around the restaurant were cool too, but it was totally worth it. Great food and great fun really defined this dinner and it was certainly one thing that I’m glad I got to do before I leave Japan.
Our group enjoying their meals
FutureScope Company Visit
FutureScope Company Visit
Our second visit led us to Shibuya where we saw several different companies in one building (FutureScope). Here, we actually got two different presentations and got a brief tour of the office building.
The first visit from FutureScope was primarily based on content and services for mobile devices. One thing from this visit that I found interesting was the breakdown of the company organization. In particular, FutureScope is part of the Fields Company which has many other companies within it (Lucent Pictures, Digital Frontier, etc.). Also, knowing how much mobile growth is taking place in Japan, their business is certainly one that is only going to keep expanding for a quite a while. On a side, Dr. Coursaris (our professor) actually talked about how much FutureScope has grown and improved since Michigan State’s first visit back in 2006.
Following the first talk, the next presentation came from Digital Frontier (a motion picture production company). I really learned a lot here as this was the first time I’ve been exposed in detail to the “ins and outs” of motion capturing. Sure, I was aware of it beforehand, but to hear about the complexity of its operation is something else. Digital Frontier also has several other facilities besides the office, like a motion capturing facility in Shiodome. It was also good to see some work that I was familiar with beforehand, like Deathnote. Lastly, they seemed to be a company that dealt with some larger firms for clients such as SEGA, JR, CapCom, etc, which I found quite interesting.
This was a fantastic visit to end our trip on as I really got more exposure to some of the motion capturing industry, which I didn’t know a whole lot about. I did hear about some elements of motion capturing at our iNis visit, but this one was quite detailed and very insightful for me.
Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) Visit
Dai Nippon Printing-DNP
Our last day in Tokyo had us check out four companies, but in a total of two sites. The first one was the Dai Nippon Printing company near Gotanda.
We got to explore a small portion of their building and they gave our group a fantastic presentation about their company. The one thing that stuck out, but wasn’t surprising at all, was how they were evolving from pure printing-based services to a more information-based services. What was also neat were the similar concepts discussed at other site visits, such as Augmented Reality (putting a smartphone/tablet to a brochure and seeing a “3D” visual display).
After the presentation, they also had a little museum of art exhibits to check out. One thing that was neat was its relationship with The Louvre in Paris. The Louvre would give one of its paintings/exhibits to DNP in exchange for an IT-based exhibit to help the museum experience. In our visit, we saw the El Nino Azul (the blue boy). The DNP exhibit had lots of interactive, touch-based, things to help make the experience more enjoyable. Also, they had a similar touch-based wall exhibit broken down by time period, which I found neat as well.
It will be interesting to see if more art museums do this type of thing back home. From a lot of science and natural history musuems I’ve visited, the interactive exhibits are there, but I haven’t seen much of this in the way of art museums. All in all, having this kind of relationship between the actual artifact and these interactive modules really helped me get more out of the exhibits.
Japan Railways Visit Part II: Mobile Technology
SmartPhone apps can make viewing train information more accessible
Now that I posted my general thoughts on the JR East visit, I think looking at the technology is one thing that adds to it. In particular, I really liked how they were way ahead of the curve in terms of cutting-edge technology (especially for mobile devices). The mobile devices aren’t exactly foreign objects for the JR system as it is essentially a staple now.
The first aspect I enjoyed learning about was how the mobile device can be used to commute. One of the basic commuter rail passes around the Tokyo area called SUICA actually can be embedded on a smartphone, which was not necessarily surprising, but neat to see at the same time. This service actually started back in 2006, only adding to how advanced Japan is when it comes to mobile implementation. From there, people would recharge their card balance via the internet, making it an all electronic process.
JR East is working on a smartphone app called “TrainNet” which will provide essential information like status, facilities information, delays, coupons, etc. Although, it’s intended for the Japanese (no English version) it’s great to have that type of information at your fingertips, especially if you can’t read the boards at the station or on the train. Hopefully, an English version can be put out soon as many tourists will rely on the information going forward, but at least it’s a start.
In general, the JR visit really showed the potential for how mobile devices can make local travel better. As this technology evolves, its limits are endless for making things more efficient for commuters and passengers.
Japan Railways Visit Part I: Overall Impressions
Inside the JR East R&D Lab
Our visit today took us to the JR East Research and Development Center about an hour away from Tokyo. Overall, it was a great experience and I got to learn a lot.
I found it neat to learn more about its history, as I was not aware that JR became a private firm back in 1987. Also, JR is split up into six different and independent companies, we visited JR East. The sheer impact it has on Japan is amazing as well, especially when nearly 25% (about 16 million people) of the JR East operating area is served. There is no question JR plays a key role for Japan’s people and is a staple that makes up a part of country’s identity, in my opinion.
The R&D facility was excellent and like all of our other company visits, the people at JR were very hospitable and I appreciate what they did for us. We also had a great lunch as a group (along with some of the JR representatives) before seeing presentations and the models. In particular, I liked the model train stations shown on the PowerPoint designed to be a key community hub. Lastly, it was great of them to allow us to take pictures and not have to worry about being secretive about the information.
To sum it up, it was another fantastic company visit that was absolutely worth the time. The complexity of the JR East operation was neat to see and hopefully next time I return to Japan, their projects come to fruition making JR travel more efficient (and it’s pretty efficient right now) and easier.
Square Enix…..the home of Final Fantasy
Square Enix
Our second visit of the day took us to Square Enix in Shinjuku, where we spent a lot of time here. Although, I can’t reveal a whole lot of specific details (per company policy), I can at least discuss my overall impressions and general overview of what went on.
The first thing that I really took notice of was the business model of video games. I hardly had a clue prior to today, but I had a much better understanding of it. What really was cool was Jakob (A Square Enix employee) explaining how the changes in technology have helped out immensely in terms of growth. While that is such a basic concept, it was nice to see it shown in a way that one can relate it to the video game consoles. Also, it was neat learning about the hierarchical distribution of Square Enix, which showed how the developers (lower on the chart) are actually the most important piece of the puzzle. Although the business model is not necessarily my cup of tea, I certainly understand its importance and really got a lot out of that presentation to begin our visit there.
There was another presentation on the actual technologies involved and they even showed us around parts of the building. However, we were told not to discuss that publicly, unfortunately. I did enjoy both, however.
I also thought the people at Square Enix treated our group quite well and were very hospitable. The free snacks and drinks in the conference room were tremendous too.
Overall, I really got a lot out of this visit and learned quite a bit. It’s not too often where one can say they have been behind the scenes at a major gaming company. All in all, I really enjoyed this place and am glad to say that I visited a top-notch Japanese Video Game company.
iNis Site Visit
INIS Video Game Company
A pair of company visits took place for our group today and our first stop was at iNis, a key video game company in Japan.
It was an interesting place as we went into their offices, which took up two whole floors, but was very nice to be in. The biggest part, for me at least, was seeing not only what the company had to offer in terms of their products but to hear what some people deal with on an everyday basis for their jobs.
While I may not be working in the video game industry as a career, I really found it fascinating to hear from Andy and Rob (both working at iNiS) about what their work is like. Certainly I wasn’t surprised with the possible long hours involved. I did find it interesting that the company does make it a point to send their workers home in order to prevent problems. Apparently, they had lost some key workers from working too much in the past.
The games themselves were quite neat too. I really liked seeing their previous works (Black Eyed Peas experience), but also some of their modern projects like Eden to GREEEN (still a work in progress). What also was cool in terms of the gaming aspect, is how much their company evolves with new technologies. In particular, tablet and mobile games are now a point of emphasis for them, which is something worth keeping an eye on.
It was a great place to start our day off with and the people there were quite helpful for us. I certainly enjoyed sampling some of the games as well and was glad to at least get a feel of the Japanese gaming industry first-hand.
Ralph Broad Japan Study Abroad 2012 