Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (hereafter Toppan Printing; head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & CEO: Naoki Adachi) will install one of the world’s largest VR* theaters in the "ELGAIA OHI" PR center that will be opened by The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. (hereafter Kansai Electric Power; head office: Kita Ward, Osaka; President and Director: Shosuke Mori) in the Uminpia Ohi resort facility in Ohicho, Ohi District, Fukui Prefecture on July 20, 2008. This will enable a virtual tour with extremely realistic and impressive images of areas such as the interior of a nuclear power plant, which cannot usually be seen.

The "THEATER GAIA" VR theater will have a supersized curve screen measuring 22 meters in width and 6 meters in height with a viewing angle of 120 degrees, seemingly occupying the entire field of vision. The theater will have a capacity of 80. Using 3 projectors, high-definition 3D computer graphic images generated in real time by computers are projected seamlessly onto the screen to achieve a sense of realism similar to actually being in sites such as a nuclear power plant.

Using the technology and know-how that it has developed in VR content production, Toppan Printing has produced 2 original VR productions. One is a tour of a nuclear power plant; the other is concerned with the global environment. With these productions, viewers will be able to further their understanding of the workings of a nuclear power plant and the global environment through images accompanied by narration.
The theater will also screen the World Heritage and cultural asset themed VR productions produced and owned by Toppan Printing that have been well received throughout the world.

The "Virtual Tour - Nuclear Power Plant" VR content
This content recreates a nuclear power plant with computer graphics. Whilst moving around the inside of a nuclear power plant, which can not usually be seen, viewers can learn about its workings and safety measures.

The "Virtual Museum - Story of a Planet’s Life" VR content
A father and son visit a virtual museum. What they see there is the Earth’s 4.6 billion year history, space and a simulated city. A journey begins where they consider the future of the Earth and energy.


Content to be screened
In addition to the 2 newly created productions, the theater will also screen the World Heritage and cultural asset themed VR productions produced and owned by Toppan Printing that have been well received throughout the world. These productions include content based on the Nasca Lines, Edo Castle and the Maya Civilization Copan Ruins.

Toppan Printing’s efforts in VR production
Since 1997, Toppan has been engaged in the development of VR technology as a means to visually display cultural assets. It has been active in producing VR content based on valuable cultural assets from Japan and overseas. Productions include "Nasca" and the "Illustrated Biography of Prince Shotoku". The company is also expanding the use of VR theaters with large screens, and has installed them in China’s Palace Museum and Honduras’s Museo Para La Identidad Nacional (Museum of National Identity). In collaboration with the Tokyo National Museum, the TNM & TOPPAN Museum Theater was opened in the Museum’s Research and Information Center in 2007.

* VR (Virtual Reality)
Virtual Reality is an advanced digital imaging technology that allows viewers to move freely within a computer-generated 3D graphic image and experience a sense of being in the 3D space itself. The main elements of the system are the high-definition 3D data (shape, texture, light, etc.) that creates the environment and the technology that generates the image from the data in real time in response to the navigator’s operation. If a large screen is used to display the high-resolution image that is created, viewers can experience an even greater sense of immersion in the space.

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