School of Fun for Children in Fukushima

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

After the success of our first VR (Virtual Reality) camp, we had two weekends in May 2021 to create additional opportunities for fun.

On the first occasion, we had space scientist Prof. Abe for the third time, and we heard more about our moon, watched the launch of the next generation of commercial rockets, climbed (!) on such rockets, floated around the International Space Station, and went to the moon where we will be building our own secret base, all in VR. We spent a luxurious time receiving the professor's rich knowledge of the universe with experiences through our own (avatar) bodies.

On the second occasion, we had a preview of the completed VR world children 3D-painted at our previous camp "The Birth of Planet Academy Camp", now that everyone can move freely in the space by jumping under very small gravitiy and/or using a personal propulsion system. In addition to the children themselves, parents and our staff members were also invited, as well as VR artist KAHUA, who provided the guidance for 3D-painting at the previous camp. Some of us got motion sickness from flying too fast, but we felt it was so cool!

These were test flights of sorts, not just for the space sector, but for pioneering various new kinds of camps that we will apply VR to achieve in the future. The key to this is the sense that children can create their own worlds.

Links:

• Academy Camp Facebook Page in English