Ask a dedicated, longtime anime
fan about visuals of the city of Tokyo, Japan as depicted in any sci-fi genre
story, and they might very likely say things to the effect of: high-tech
holographic advertising billboards with moving visuals that might be abstract
or realistic. Samples of these big animated billboard holograms can be found in
classic sci-fi anime films like “Akira” or “Ghost in the Shell” (carried over
in its TV series version and Hollywood adaptation). This trend stems from
real-life Tokyo having some pretty impressive billboard visuals already. And
sometimes, they do cross into the cutting-edge near-future aesthetic.
Look no further than the 3D
billboard installed on a building not far from the train station for Shinjuku
district, Tokyo. CNN International describes
it as a curved LED screen covering part of a building’s top floor, which
alternates from looking like the building floor unaltered with tall windows, to
a white ledge from where a gigantic black, white and orange cat is perched,
seemingly looking down onto the street below and occasionally flicking its
tongue out of its mouth. The visual actually changes all throughout the day,
making it one of the most dynamic billboard displays ever designed yet.
今日の15時半ごろに現地で撮られた映像です。雑踏が思いのほかうるさいので、声の大きさは調整しなきゃ。再生時、音量注意です！⚠️ pic.twitter.com/8OsmcyyVOo
— 新宿東口の猫 (@cross_s_vision) July 5, 2021
The funny thing is, it is not
even supposed to be active yet. The LED screen paneling on that building may
have been fully implemented, but the display was not supposed to activate until
next week, July 12. Nevertheless, sharp observers with mobile devices handy
have caught the billboard doing “test broadcasts” of the cat, which lasts from
7AM to 1AM the following day. In the morning the first cat visual shows the
feline being startled awake from its nook. In the afternoon it is fully
standing and meowing, before lying down and sleeping cutely once the night
becomes late.
It is all in all a breathtaking
experience, and Japanese passersby at Shinjuku (numbered at around 190,000
every weekday) all agree on the impressive visuals accentuated by the cat model’s
adorability. Unfortunately, with Japan still battling the COVID pandemic, tourist
travel from overseas is a no-go. Fortunately Cross Space, one of the companies
that designed the 4K LED 3D billboard, has put up a YouTube live-stream of it
for online viewing. Granted, the billboard does show other visuals aside from
the cat, so YT viewers might have to wait awhile. And they might; it is a cat
video after all.
Image courtesy of PEOPLE
0 comments:
Post a Comment