Maker Faire Tokyo 2019, Japan's largest craftsmanship festival, was held at Tokyo Big Sight for two days on August 3rd (Sat) and 4th (Sun), 2019. Maker Faire is a festival of the maker movement held all over the world that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, and is an event where makers who have mastered new technologies with unique ideas gather to exhibit and demonstrate their original works.
At the booth of JVC Kenwood Design Corporation, which will be exhibiting for the third time this year,"Forest Notes"Utilizing live recordings of forests from all over Japan that are streamed online, we exhibited two prototypes that allow people to experience the forest up close, and conducted a demonstration with the hope that people will rediscover the wonder of nature through their hearts and five senses.
This time, through a prototype created based on fieldwork conducted at the Southern Alps Mura Wild Bird Park in Hayakawa Town, Yamanashi Prefecture, many children were able to experience the sensation of actually being in a forest. Thank you very much to everyone who came.
A prototype based on fieldwork experiences
The prototype, which was conceived to allow users to experience the natural forest with all five senses, was created based on fieldwork at the Southern Alps Wild Bird Park in Hayakawa Town, the least populated town in Japan, located at the westernmost tip of Yamanashi Prefecture. With forests covering approximately 96% of the town's area, Hayakawa Town's ecosystem is a treasure trove of wildlife and birds, and over 100 species of birds can be observed throughout the year, including kingfishers, golden eagles, rock ptarmigans, blue-and-white flycatchers, and narcissus flycatchers.
During the fieldwork, the participants received support from experts based on ecological surveys, and made full use of their five senses to experience the charm of the forest, including distinguishing between multiple bird songs using a method called "miki-nashi," which translates bird songs into human words.
The members brainstormed various ideas for how to express this valuable experience, and using 3D printers, laser processing machines, and programming techniques, they created two prototypes: "Forest Echo," which connects to the mountains via a string telephone and allows you to listen to the sounds of the forest, and "Forest Bird," a bird object that responds to a whistle and turns in the direction of the sound.
Cooperation: Hayakawa Town Southern Alps Town Wild Bird Park
Listen to the sounds of the forest"Forest Echo"
The prototype for "Forest Echo," which allows users to listen to the sounds of the forest, is a mountain-like structure fitted with a vibration speaker and connected by a string telephone. The sounds heard through the vibrations of the string telephone create a sense of realism, as if the user is actually in the forest, and the idea is to bring the forest closer to the user. On both days of the event, it was very impressive to see parent-child conversations such as "Can you hear the birds?" and "Yes, I can!", elementary school students listening intently with their ears pressed to the string telephone, and children breaking into beaming smiles the moment they heard the birds chirping.
A bird object facing the direction of the sound"Forest Bird"
At the "Forest Bird" booth, we focused on birds chirping towards each other to claim their territory, based on our fieldwork experiences. We also had visitors whistle in a way that resembled a bird, and had the experience of turning a bird sculpture around. We felt a sense of satisfaction when we saw many people, from small children to adults, clapping their hands at the bird sculpture and watching with interest as it moved in response to the bird call.
