Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan will remain open until autumn 2025. While it is an event for the entire world, only a limited number of people can actually attend the venue in person. That is why the Association for the 2025 World Exposition created the EXPO 2025 “VIRTUAL EXPO ~YUMESHIMA ISLANDS IN THE SKY~” (hereinafter referred to as “VR EXPO”). Participating as a team member, Yumi Ohta helped lead the direction of the VR EXPO, while asking herself: “How can ‘Air’ be visualized in the virtual world? And what can we do to promote Daikin to a younger generation unfamiliar with company?” Here she talks about the VR EXPO along with Daikin’s own contribution to the virtual space.
Captivating the Next-Generation with the Experience of “Invisible Air”
The VR EXPO is an online space established to recreate the Yumeshima venue of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan using 3D computer graphics. You can enjoy this virtual space and actually feel as if you are strolling around the venue. Since I wanted as many people as possible to know that “air has hidden possibilities,” I volunteered to take part in the creation of the VR EXPO, which can be accessed by anyone from anyplace in the world.
For the VR EXPO, we arranged two very unique experiences. One is the Water Showroom, where you can experience the virtual reality of “A Spectacle of Air and Water UNDER THE MIDNIGHT RAINBOW.” Held nightly during EXPO 2025, it is being jointly exhibited by Suntory and Daikin. The other experience is the Daikin Room, where you can learn about the possibilities of air.
All life connects to air and water. The Water Showroom conveys this message and is divided into two parts: an island area where visitors can feel the existence and importance of water and air and a festival area where visitors can experience the animals and a nighttime rainbow. Rather than simply being a recreation of the show, we fashioned an immersive world made possible through virtual reality that enables you to uniquely relive the story.
The main target of the Daikin Room is attracting young people in their teens and twenties and families with children, two demographics that Daikin has had trouble reaching. Being especially aware of the need to communicate the value of air and its possibilities on a deeper, more personal level, we pursued a design that went beyond simply conveying information to one that creates an “emotional experience that excites the senses,” something that only a virtual world can offer.
Designing Invisible Air at the Futuristic City DAIKIN Air Island
The central focus of the Daikin Room is a futuristic city called DAIKIN Air Island. In this virtual space, the presence of air that we usually take for granted is expressed in a visible form. With this in mind, we thought about how to visualize air and technology, which are typically unseen, and present them in a way that users could experience for themselves.
The Athletic area, which is positioned in the middle of the city, was a focus area where we wanted to visually express the idea of “air that improves exercise.” Touching the gauge either doubles your avatar’s jumping ability or increases its speed and can give you the dynamic rush of improving performance through the power of air. Utilizing the characteristics of the VR space, we also gave considerable thought to the design of the vertical spatial experience, which affords you a view of the whole city as you reach a high elevation.
Various kinds of people are expected to visit the VR EXPO, ranging from the serious gamer going all-in with VR goggles to those who only want to casually access the game on their smartphones, so we crafted two athletic courses with different levels of difficulty.
Moreover, special views that can only be seen by those who complete the athletic courses are provided along with other features scattered throughout the game to give players a sense of accomplishment and a greater sense of the “power of air.” Through this approach of “visualizing the invisible air,” we aimed to provide users a sensory experience of the remarkable aspects of air.
Futuristic Vision of the DAIKIN Air Factory Delivering Ideal Air to the World
The DAIKIN Air Factory lies deep within the DAIKIN Air Island. The main content involves users becoming air delivery people who fly in paper planes all over the world delivering air produced in this factory. With the key point being “around the world,” the VR EXPO subtly conveys that Daikin has expanded its business globally. In this way, users are provided with a sense of having “traveled the world” through this experience.
This factory also produces the “ideal air of the future.” This includes, for example, “air that makes meals more enjoyable” and “air that stimulates plants.” At Daikin, we have a clear vision for the future in which we want to become more profoundly involved in air not only as a substance but also as a factor influencing the “ambience” and “environment” of the entire space.
Rediscovering New Possibilities of the “Invisible Air”
With this being my first time working with VR, I was amazed as I researched multiple VR spaces at the range of possibilities for expression. While there were naturally technical limitations, such as the number of polygons on the VR EXPO platform, I think that we were extremely meticulous about "avoiding cheap-looking expressions" throughout the project.
What I most wanted to communicate this time was a knowledge of Daikin to generations beyond our current customer base and visitors with a fun experience in which they could learn that “air has many possibilities.”
Precisely because it is a virtual space accessible to people around the world, we stressed “non-verbal air experience” that transcends language barriers and can be intuitively understood and experienced. The Daikin Room in the VR EXPO integrates knowledge relating to air that Daikin has cultivated over many years with VR technology to achieve a design space where you can truly experience the future.
I certainly hope that everyone will enjoy the “new possibilities of invisible air” at the Daikin Room.
・Access to the Daikin Room within the “Virtual EXPO”
https://contents.ssv.virtualexpo.expo2025.or.jp/deeplink/cushion_page.html?SpaceId=SS-045202
・Daikin Industries’ special site for Expo 2025
https://www.daikin.co.jp/air/activity/expo2025
・Press releases
https://www.daikin.co.jp/press/2025/20250403
