Developing the virtual pavilion that
allows people to experience ocean issues in a fun way

The Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai is taking on the challenge of simultaneously holding the Expo in a virtual space for the first time. The virtual pavilion in BLUE OCEAN DOME is being developed by the virtual team of TOPPAN Incorporated. Since the work was done at the same time as the Expo’s application creation, the development proceeded through repeated trial and error. <br>”BOD Professionals” interviews the thoughts of those who support BLUE OCEAN DOME behind the scenes. In the first session, we asked the virtual team of TOPPAN Incorporated to talk about the difficulties of the production stage and the highlights of the virtual space.

Provide a space where many people from all over the world can participate
The virtual pavilion was developed for the first time at the Expo

The development of the virtual pavilion started in the fall of 2023. The mission was for the younger generation, who would visit the virtual space, to take an interest in the ocean and enjoy experiencing the issues facing the ocean. We want to express myself in a virtual way that cannot be done in real life. Based on this idea, we work with an awareness of the interactive space where information can be obtained by the user acting. While the platform itself had not yet been created, it was difficult to create it by hand to see what kind of expression would actually be possible. This will probably be the last time I will be involved as a creator in an Expo to be held in Japan. Even though the hard work continued, the team worked together with the motivation of providing a virtual space where people from all over the world could participate.

Through three rooms on the beach, under the sea, and public viewing
You can experience ocean issues while having fun like a game

Three rooms are available in the virtual pavilion. We went through a trial and error process to figure out how to express these three things and what kind of flow line would bring people into contact with ocean issues. I would like to convey that the problem of marine trash is not only in the ocean, but also happen in our daily lives that garbage produced and flows into the ocean. With that in mind, the first room begins with a scene on the beach. From there, we entered the second room into the sea as if guided by sea turtles. The last room will be a public viewing room that will be connected to events held at the venue in real life.

In the beach scene, the ocean and sky look beautiful, but I think you can feel the discomfort of garbage falling on the beach. I hope that this sense of discomfort will lead people to come into contact with the problem of the sea. Another point of focus is that you can enjoy the virtual space as if it were a game. In the ocean, sea turtles teach us about various marine problems, and behind them, there are marine life tangled in plastic, etc. Every time you enter the virtual space, the movement of marine life changes randomly, so it would be fun to visit several times and let them discover the differences.

Communicating with people around the world through virtual spaces
As a creator, we are proud to be involved in the Expo’s first project.

The event is finally approaching, and I’m filled with anticipation and anxiety about how many people will actually visit the virtual space. This will be the first time for the Expo to be held at the same time as the venue and virtual space. If this initiative is successful and is adopted for the next Expo to be held in another country, it will be a project that we will be proud to be involved in for the first time.

First of all, we would be happy if it could be an opportunity for people to feel free to touch the Expo in a virtual space and want to visit the venue in real life. Since it is a virtual space, you can visit at any time without worrying about the time, and the app also has a chat function with language translations, so you can communicate with a variety of people around the world. Please visit the Expo site in real life during the day and enjoy the virtual pavilion at night.