SENDAI--Virtual reality technology researchers showed off their latest tricks and gadgets at Tohoku University, where they tried to emulate supernatural powers from the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” fantasy manga series.
Hirohiko Araki, the 53-year-old creator of the manga, attended the Oct. 12 lecture and said he was intrigued by the new technologies. He said he might use them in future story arcs.
In the Jojo series, “Stand” powers are semi-physical manifestations of a person’s supernatural ability to focus energy. Stand powers are often shown in the form of humans or tools with a variety of different super powers, including the ability to stop time and move through alternative realities.
During the lecture, Tom Kawada of the three-member technology development team known as the AR Brothers presented a new application of called “augmented reality” (AR) that “works” in the physical world.
AR is a technology that overlays text, graphics and sound on real-life images and objects.
On a computer screen, Kawada showed an image of an object in the middle of the venue room. When he used a light beam to shoot the object on the screen to knock it over, the corresponding object in the real world also fell over.
“We took a step closer to Stand powers,” Kawada said enthusiastically.
Naotaka Fujii, who leads an Adaptive Intelligence team at Riken's Brain Science Institute, introduced an experimental platform called a substitute reality (SR) system. With the technology, past experiences and previously recorded scenes can be substituted into reality, according to Fujii.
A video documenting Araki’s SR experience showed the author wearing specially developed headgear for the experiment.
Araki was able to see the room through a display mounted on the headgear. Moments later, he saw a woman entering the room. Although the woman was a previously recorded image, Araki had a real-time conversation with the woman who didn’t exist in his moment in time.
“I lost track of what was past and what was present,” Araki said.
Fujii said his SR system is right up there with Stand powers.
“It means that reality is entirely subjective,” he said with a smile. “With this (technology), we can go beyond the laws of physics.”
“I think we can create new concepts and stories using these technologies,” Araki added.
“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” started its run in 1987 in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and has sold more than 80 million copies worldwide. Spanning multiple generations, each story arc in the “JoJo” saga features the protagonist nicknamed JoJo and his or her battles against the nemesis.
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