Saitama streets recreated in XR space to test information dissemination

Psychic VR Lab, which operates the “STYLY” metaverse platform, together with Saitama Prefecture, Mitsubishi Research Institute, Japan Business Systems, and Microsoft Japan, announced a test on using XR for information dissemination related to administrative services. The streets between Urawa Station and Saitama Prefectural Office will be reconstructed on a cross-reality (XR) space that combines the real world and virtual space to provide information on local culture, local products, facilities, and events.

The program will take into consideration the impact of Covid-19 and plans included in the Digital Agency’s “Priority Plan for the Realization of a Digital Society”. It aims to provide more effective administrative services by deploying a realistic environment on XR, and to identify technical and operational difficulties, effects, and issues related to implementation of new technologies. 

The goal is to provide an opportunity for prefectural government employees to experience XR technology and study the development of administrative services using XR in order to promote the digital transformation (DX) of local governments, according to an announcement by Psychic VR Lab on February 7.

In October 2022, Psychic VR Lab launched the “Shibuya Scramble Layer” project, an urban XR entertainment experience set at the iconic Shibuya crossing in Tokyo. In an effort to expand its capabilities, it is planning to import 3D data of urban areas as templates and deliver content linked to a virtual city created on STYLY.

In January, the company raised 200 million yen from Animoca Brands Japan, a strategic subsidiary of Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based Web 3.0 company, and other investors. The company announced that it would use the funds to expand STYLY’s urban XR entertainment business globally.