Attended the Virtual Reality Society of Japan General Meeting and Networking Event for the Third Year
Thanks to a certain connection, this is my third year as a member of the Virtual Reality Society of Japan. It is also my third time attending the general meeting and networking event. In the first year, I understood so little that I did nothing, but in the second year I had planned to attend the annual conference. In the end, my schedule did not work out, so in the second year too I only attended the general meeting and networking event. The booklet they send is interesting, and I look forward to every issue.
In the business or developer world, in XR, perhaps AI integration, 3D Gaussian Splatting, Apple Immersive Video, and smart glasses are currently booming. However, within the society, I get the impression that those topics do not come up very much. I also do not think people who come to the society often come to study groups, and conversely, I rarely see people from study groups there. My observation range is narrow, so if I attended more different events, maybe it would feel different.
That is my impression, so even if we say "VR" in one word, the directions people are looking in are completely different. That is exactly why there are discoveries when you get involved in both. That is why I participate. Incidentally, I did not go to graduate school, so I have almost no academic background. I did graduate from university, so maybe I have at least the first letter of "academic."
Because it is a society, there is an annual conference. This year it will be held at Toyama Prefectural University Imizu Campus in Toyama. I would like to somehow arrange my schedule and participate.
When I looked it up later, I found that on the way from the station there is also a day-use hot spring called Taikoyama Onsen Taiko no Yu.
The networking event is held at the University of Tokyo venue, as is customary every year. Since I go every year, you would think I would remember it, but the campus is large and I always get lost. The harder part is going home, because every year I repeat the same experience of having no idea where the exit is. Sometimes the exit is after going through a building corridor.
I originally started attending the networking event with no acquaintances at all, so communication is extremely difficult. Even so, I make about one friend each year. I think there are people who similarly do not know what to do. Because those are distant relationships, I make it a point to bring some kind of story every time. Last time, I brought news of the visionOS hackathon and an actual device. Having topics like that makes it easier for people to talk to me. This time I brought materials about Seiro MCP, shown at the beginning, and some new topics. I asked the moderator to provide announcement time.
So, if you are an XR person reading this, I recommend trying the Virtual Reality Society of Japan networking event. I think you will hear topics that are different from the usual ones.
About the General Meeting
The general meeting mainly consists of reports and approval of the budget, as is common in many general meetings. What I find quite interesting is the awards section afterward. Announcements of papers and academic encouragement awards feel like a small summary of themes that are attracting attention each year. Incidentally, the presentations that received this year's academic encouragement awards are below. If you are interested, please read them. Even when we say VR in one word, there are many kinds of things.
The oral presentation category winners are below.
- https://conference.vrsj.org/ac2025/program/doc/1F2-07.pdf
- https://conference.vrsj.org/ac2025/program/doc/2A1-04.pdf
- https://conference.vrsj.org/ac2025/program/doc/3B2-07.pdf
- https://conference.vrsj.org/ac2025/program/doc/3E2-03.pdf
- https://conference.vrsj.org/ac2025/program/doc/1E2-01.pdf
The technical and artistic exhibition category winners were as follows.
- https://jglobal.jst.go.jp/en/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=202602277468125678
- https://conference.vrsj.org/ac2025/program/doc/3G-27.pdf
- https://conference.vrsj.org/ac2025/program/doc/1G-21.pdf
- https://conference.vrsj.org/ac2025/program/doc/1A1-12.pdf