JAXA | KIBO SCIENCE 360 - A Space Experiment with Google | 2017
Put on a VR Helmet, and Go to Space / JAXA × Google "KIBO SCIENCE 360"
Just assemble a single piece of cardboard, and you can become an astronaut. "KIBO SCIENCE 360," created by JAXA, Google, and Dentsu, is a project that recreates the Kibo experiment module on the ISS in VR.
The problem
In 2012, JAXA and Google ran the world's first Google Hangout from space, giving kids a chance to ask questions to astronaut Hoshide, who was in orbit. Four years later, timed with astronaut Onishi's stay on the ISS, they set out this time to "send" kids there themselves.
The insight
Honestly, I've never been a big fan of VR — it often feels like it's manufacturing a need that wasn't really there. But as a way to go somewhere you physically can't go, it suddenly makes complete sense. And the fact that all you need is a single piece of cardboard gives it just the right kind of lightness.
The idea
Using a cardboard helmet that folds together like origami, kids could walk around the inside of Kibo in 360-degree real footage. Guided by astronaut Onishi, they could try three space experiments, and a live broadcast connecting the ISS with Tsukuba was hosted from the ground by YouTuber Hajime Shacho and astronaut Hoshide.
What happened
The live broadcast and teaser were viewed over 1.6 million times combined, and the project was also covered on national news. Viewers were distributed to schools across Japan, and the experience now lives on as a permanent exhibit at the JAXA Tsukuba Space Center, welcoming kids to this day. It won a Grande Lotus in the Mobile category at ADFEST 2017.
Afterthought
I love the gap between how simple it is — just one piece of cardboard — and how huge the dream it delivers. This project really shows the power VR has when it's used as a way to go somewhere you otherwise never could.
