By KAZUHIKO MATSUNAGA/ Staff Writer
June 24, 2021 at 07:00 JST
A 3-D CGI model of the Yodoko Guest House (the former Yamamura family residence) (Provided by Hacosco Inc.)
ASHIYA, Hyogo Prefecture--Interactive 3-D virtual reality photographs have been created to promote three historic buildings of modernist architecture in Ashiya city to the world.
One of the buildings featured in the VR content is the Yodoko Guest House (the former Yamamura family residence). Designed by U.S. architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), it was completed in 1924 and is designated an important cultural property.
The other two buildings, the former Ashiya Post Office Telephone Exchange (Ashiya Monolith) and the former Miyazuka-cho housing complex, are government-registered tangible cultural properties.
VR service provider Hacosco Inc., based in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, pitched the project idea to the Ashiya city government after taking note of the three buildings. A production committee comprising members from Hacosco and the city’s education board was then founded.
Online visitors can see each building in two different programs.
One is through a 3-D panoramic photograph assembled from multiple digital images of the exterior shot by a drone. The other uses an interactive photo that lets viewers virtually stroll inside and around the structure by pressing the screen.
“We hope people will see the images and visit the actual sites when the novel coronavirus pandemic settles down,” an education board official said.
The virtual tours can be accessed by scanning the QR code with a smartphone or tablet, or visiting the special website at (https://hacosco.com/ashiyakindai/).
Nara’s Daianji temple to rebuild long-lost initial form with CGI
June 3, 2021
Human remains unearthed near Osaka station at former cemetery
August 14, 2020
Ghost painting confirmed rare work by famous Edo Period artist
May 21, 2021
Stuck-at-home musicians make synthesizer wind instruments a hit
March 21, 2021
Mammal, reptile fossils in Fukui show diversity in age of dinosaurs
March 11, 2021
Virus vs. heat illnesses: Death fuels debate over masks at schools
June 4, 2021
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
