The day I cried in VR / VRで泣いた日 (English&Japanese)

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(Edited)

(日本語は後半にあります)

【English】

Experiencing VR attraction

Yesterday, I went to Tokyo Dome City with my family. The purpose was the VR attraction "ULTRASEVEN THE ATTRACTION: The Fastest Mission in History" which opened last December. The fee was 850 yen (about $5.6 USD) per person.



I am a big fan of the 1960s special effects TV series Ultra Seven. However, I was not so interested in this attraction because I do not like crowded places like Tokyo Dome City, and I was not so interested in VR either. I thought that no matter how "realistic" it looked, it was just an image and not reality. So, if my husband had not invited me and if the theme had not been "Ultra Seven," I would not have gone this time either.

There are many other attractions in Tokyo Dome City, and some of them had long lines. But "Ultra Seven" was completely empty, and we were able to enter without waiting in line. I am not sure if it was because it had been open for a while or because it is not very popular.


I had not been interested in VR, but ...

While there are many attractions in the vicinity that children would enjoy, "Ultra Seven" did not seem to be suitable for children. To begin with, it was a special effects hero from the 1960s, and people who watched it in real time are already elderly, so I don't think they would come to such an attraction... In that respect, it was a project whose target audience was not well understood.



After a brief explanation via video, we were led to a small theater-like room where we were seated, put on our VR goggles, and soon after, the story began. As the subtitle "The Fastest Mission in History" suggests, the main focus of this attraction is a simulated experience of flying by fighter planes in the world of Ultra Seven. It begins with taking the controls myself and flying out of the base in the Ultra Hawk 1.


The brain creates an illusion.

At first I thought, "Hmm, it's just VR," but after a while I noticed that my hand on the control stick was getting stronger and stronger. Every time I almost hit a cliff, or the aircraft was agitated by a strong wind (of course it was the wind sent from the fan I first saw at the venue, but it didn't feel like it), or the vibration of a crash landing (actually just the chair shaking), I felt my body tense up and my legs bounce.

Although I was aware that the staff would find it hilarious, my body already seemed to recognize the VR world as reality.


I cried when I discovered Seven.

Then the story progressed, and the moment I saw Ultra Seven and the enemy robot fighting from above... you may laugh if I write this, but I cried 😂



It was almost like it was real and I was so moved to be able to see Seven up close, who I have been a huge fan of since I was a child. In reality I was just sitting in my seat and watching the images through VR goggles, but my brain didn't think so.

In addition, I was thrilled that the series had finished airing decades ago, and yet it had suddenly been revived as a VR attraction in Tokyo in the 2020s. It really brings tears to my eyes to think that I was able to see it only because I lived up to this time. I think I was the only adult who cried at that attraction... My family laughed hysterically when I told them about it later.

So my perception that "VR is just an image" was fundamentally overturned this weekend, and I am very much looking forward to the development of VR technology and what it will show us in the future.


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【Japanese】

VRアトラクションを体験

昨日、家族で東京ドームシティへ行きました。目的は昨年12月にオープンしたVRアトラクション『ウルトラセブン ULTRASEVEN THE ATTRACTION 史上最速の作戦』です。料金は、ひとり850円。



私は昭和の特撮テレビシリーズ『ウルトラセブン』の大ファンなのですが、このアトラクションにはさほど興味はありませんでした。東京ドームシティのような人の多い場所が好きではないのと、VRにもそれほど興味がなかったからです。いくら「現実っぽく」見えるとしても、所詮映像、現実ではないのだから… と思っていました。だから今回も、夫の誘いがなければ、また『ウルトラセブン』がテーマでなければ行かなかったと思います。

東京ドームシティにはこのほかにもアトラクションは多数あり、中には長蛇の列ができているものもありました。が、『ウルトラセブン』はがら空きで、待ち時間ほぼなしで入場することができました。オープンから日にちが経って落ち着いていたからなのか、あまり人気がないからなのかは分かりません。


VRに興味はなかったはずが

周辺には子どもが喜びそうなアトラクションが多い中、『ウルトラセブン』は子ども向きではなかったように思います。そもそも昭和の特撮ヒーローであり、リアルタイムで見ていた人々は既にシニア世代ですから、こんなアトラクションに来るとはちょっと考えにくい… その点では、ターゲット層がやや謎な企画ではありました。。。



さて、最初に映像による簡単な説明があり、その後小規模なシアターのような会場に案内され、各自着席。VRゴーグルを装着すると、ほどなくしてストーリーが始まりました。

ちなみに会場前の壁には扇風機がズラリと並び、「ここから風を出しまーす!」と言わんばかりのネタバレ状態… しかしこの後すぐに分かるのですが、そんなことは全く問題ではなかったのです。

このアトラクションは「史上最速の作戦」というサブタイトルからも分かる通り、ウルトラセブンの世界で戦闘機による飛行の疑似体験がメインです。自分で操縦桿を握り、ウルトラホーク1号で基地を飛び立つところから始まります。


脳が錯覚を起こす

最初は「ふん、しょせんVR」と思っていた私ですが、しばらくすると操縦桿を握る手にぐっと力が入っていることに気がつきました。崖に衝突しそうになったり、機体が強風(もちろん最初に見た扇風機から送られてくる風なのですが、とてもそうは思えません)に煽られたり、不時着の振動を受ける(実際には椅子が揺れているだけ)度に、身体に力が入ったり、足が跳ねたりします。

スタッフの人たちから見たらさぞ滑稽だろうなという意識はありつつも、身体は既にVRの世界の方を現実だと認識しているようでした。


セブン発見で泣く

そして物語が進み、ウルトラセブンと敵のロボットが闘っているのを上空から見た瞬間…、これを書いたら笑われるかもしれないけど、涙が出たんですよ😂



ほぼ現実のような感覚で、子どもの頃から大ファンだったセブンを間近に見られたことへの感動でした。実際には座席に座って、VRゴーグル越しに映像を見ているだけでしたが、私の脳はそう思っていなかったのです。

加えて、もう何十年も前に放映が終わっているシリーズなのに、それが突然2020年代の東京にVRアトラクションとして復活したことへの感激もありました。この時代まで生きていたからこそ見られた!と思うと、ホント涙が出てきます。あのアトラクションで泣いた大人は私くらいじゃないでしょうか… あとで家族に話したところ、大爆笑されましたが。

そんなわけで、この週末で「VRなんて」という私の認識は根本から覆されてしまったのでした。VR技術の発展と、それがどんな未来を見せてくれるのか、とても楽しみです。


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23 comments
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wow I didn't expect you to cry. so now you like VR lol. Wait until we can finally fully submerge into it like Sword art online omg full body dive into a virtual world. will we see it in our lifetime. one can only dream

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I loved this character so much I cried because I was so moved to see him up close and personal. i didn't know about Sword art online!

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haha cuz its not your generation of anime maybe but in that anime people got sent their whole body to virtual world. im just thinking when we can do that in real life

It's ok i know you love it :P. i also had a friend that really liked ultraman when i was younger

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Interestingly, my son loves the old special effects. He enjoys the new Ultraman every year, but the only one he asks to rewatch again and again is Ultraman Taro. But I suppose that as he gets older, he will probably change and dislike the old effects.

My only experience with VR was when I was teaching at Toyota and one of the students asked me if I wanted to try their VR demo. They had created an old house with several floors, just so they could learn how to use the software. At first I thought it would be just like watching a video game, but I was surprised at how real it seemed to my body.

It's good we aren't close to Tokyo—I'm sure my son would want to go to this Ultraseven VR show. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

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(Edited)

I think your son has good taste. The technology of today's special effects is great, but sometimes the old ones seem more realistic. The stories and story settings are also simpler and easier to understand than modern ones, and although there are some rough edges, I think many of them are haunting.

Ultramantaro is good! The actor who plays the main character is handsome and the last episode makes me cry no matter how many times I watch it. Age doesn't necessarily mean he's going to hate them. Like me.


At first I thought it would be just like watching a video game,



I thought exactly the same way. Maybe our surprise was greater because we didn't have excessive expectations.

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My goodness! I read your post and I was wondering, will it be ultra Man? I googled it and siii!!! I used to watch him as a kid in Venezuela!!!
I imagine I would have cried too if I could have seen him up close.

なんてことだ!あなたの記事を読んで、ウルトラマンかな?と思ってググったら、そうだった!子供の頃、ベネズエラで彼をよく見ていたよ!!!
間近で彼を見ることができたら、私も泣いていただろうね。

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Oh, really? I am even more impressed to think that I was watching the same hero at the same time as you.
At first I thought the price was high, but when I saw it, I thought it was a pretty good deal.

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VR is indeed surreal. We bought Oculus a few years ago and couldn't use it much. It messes with your body & mind, literally made me sick if I used it too long. Maybe because I was flying into walls while fighting people? Things your brain can't properly process because you should be dead or at least knocked out hitting a wall at high speed. They are very entertaining though!

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Oh, you bought an Oculus? Indeed, it's going to be confusing both physically and mentally... I'd like to start with something calm like a walk (if there is one), because something intense like a battle might shock me😂
VR goggles are so expensive these days. I'd love to enjoy it at home when it's a little cheaper.

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Next time I'm in Japan, will need to visit the Tokyo Dome City!

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By all means. This attraction is only available for a limited time, but there are many other fun things to do in the ministry, although there are a lot of people.

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That is awesome! In Japan they seem to value more the different audiences, you can expect the unexpected. Plus it was probably easier in terms of rights.

VR can definitely be a great attraction and intensify others.

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I didn't expect it to be this much fun. There are VR goggles for home use, but they are still quite expensive, so I guess I will just enjoy it at these facilities for a while...

What used to be a fictional world may become a reality!

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VRってすごいものなんですね。
私もあまり興味がなかったのですが、こちらの記事を読んで印象がまた変化しました。
ゲーム方面やメタバース方面やこのようなアトラクション方面などなど、たくさんのVR技術が活かされたエンターテイメントや擬似体験システムがありますが「体も心も揺さぶられる」体験なのだな、と感じました。
「昔の特撮」って今大ブームみたいですよ。ゴジラも仮面ライダーも「シン」になって爆発的にヒットしてますよね。
私にはそれだけ熱中したものがあるか、と言われると難しいので羨ましいです。
操縦桿を握れるなら、スターウォーズの宇宙船か、ナウシカとかラピュタの乗り物かなぁ😆

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そういえば私、シン・ウルトラマンも映画館に観に行きました😊
ナウシカ、ラピュタのVRは体験してみたいですね。アニメだとどんな感じなんだろう… どちらも高いところを飛んだり、落ちたりしそうで怖そうですが!

映画「Matrix」の中で、マトリックスの中で死んだら現実でも死ぬ・・というくだりがありましたが、確かにそうかも!と思いました。脳が現実だと思ったら、それは現実なんですね。

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Interesting to read, nice photos and a great explanation. Great that you enjoyed it and had a family time.

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Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed reading this. It was such a great experience, I even thought about trying again.

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That shows how amazing experience it was. Have a lovely day.

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