What's going on with the Oculus Rift in Japan?

I have been involved in the Japanese Oculus Rift development community for some time now, but only recently realized there is hardly any information available in English about what has been going on in Japan. This is my attempt at summarizing the 9 or so months since the release of the Oculus Rift DK1. Do please cut me some slack for the sweeping generalizations I may make; I do know there are counterexamples to many of them, but referring to them would make the article even longer than it is.

The Kickstarter units

Shipping of the Oculus Rift to Kickstarter backers began in early April 2013 but did not reach Japanese shores until late that month. Once we received our units, much like everyone else in the world, we were blown away by the field of view, stereoscopy and how the visuals fluidly followed your head movement.

Once the initial shock subsided, many of us got down to developing content for the device. The types of content, however, differed greatly from that of the West. Whereas many Western demos created various worlds to transport the player to, many of the demos here reflected the heavily character-driven nature of Japan, focusing on what fictional character to meet ‘in person.’

An aside: Japan loves characters

I must put aside the Rift for a moment and explain Japan’s obsession with characters and anthropomorphizing objects. If you’re familiar with it, skip this section. Nearly everything in Japan has an anthropomorphic representation nowadays: operating systems, WW2 warships, eldritch abominations, you name it. (The frequent use of characters is true not just for geeks. Look at a random construction sign or a dentist’s ad in Japan, and chances are, there will be a character drawn on it.)

One particularly high-profile example is Hatsune Miku, a Vocaloid singing synthesizer program with an accompanying anthropomorphized character. Fans of Miku have gathered to create not just songs but artwork, animation, and even MikuMikuDance, a freeware software suite which enables one to create 3D animated dancing sequences of Miku and gang with ease.

In essence, Miku became a Lenna or Utah Teapot of sorts: the first thing to try by default for hobbyist developers in Japan. Even before the Rift, it was common practice among makers to try to materialize Miku into the real world using various methods, eg. figurines, robotics, 3D printing, projection mapping, augmented reality, etc.

Mikulus

GOROman, one of the Kickstarter backers, was an enthusiast from the earliest days of the Rift in Japan. He created Mikulus (Miku + Oculus,) a demo where Miku sits in front of and stares at the user. Whether you find it cute or creepy depends on your tastes, but there is something quite unlike anything else about being able to perceive a life-sized—dare I say it—animated animé-style character within striking distance and looking at it straight in the eyes.

Mikulus was demoed to the public and became a hit with Vocaloid fans during the World Vocaloid Convention 2013. It went on to become one of the most popular demos here. Its popularity spawned a series of other Vocaloid character-themed demos, including Yuujii‘s Lbench, and my own Mikulus Kinect, where I experimented with full-body motion tracking.

Mikulus is currently on display at the Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library of Manga and Subculture, as part of “The Exhibition of Passion for Hatsune Miku Materialisation: Beyond the wall of dimension”, until June 1st, 2014.

Oculus Festival Japan, a.k.a. “Ocufes”