WOW showcased its new art installation, "Urban Reflection," at the iconic Clock Tower in Hong Kong from November 8th to the 19th. This piece was created in collaboration with the local creative agency Way of Difference, specifically for the "ART TECH PARK" section of the tech and startup event "JUMPSTARTER 2023 Tech by the Harbour."

Depicting the intricate landscape of Hong Kong—skyscrapers, residential complexes, and the enchanting Victoria Harbour—the installation visually expresses the city's energy and diversity, where Eastern and Western cultures, urban and natural elements, and various races seamlessly intertwine, symbolizing the city's continual growth.

Within a 27.2m × 5.4m fountain pool stand 42 LED panels, each approximately 4m in height, and 76 mirrors. This setup vividly reflects the night scenes of Victoria Harbour and skyscrapers, merging the brilliance of Hong Kong's neon lights and architectural wonders. Observers, against the backdrop of distant skyscrapers, immerse themselves in a captivating world as LED images are repetitively reflected by water and mirrors.

In this space where the boundaries of concrete and abstract blur, and time and societal distinctions fade away, observers and the landscape harmonize. "Urban Reflection" serves as a platform for dialogue about the future, exploring Hong Kong's evolution and the expectations for the times ahead.

Based on the creative concept of the Yomiuri Giants 2022 season, "Let the Light of Glory Shine," WOW directed and produced a series of visuals that best express the Yomiuri Giants' universe. Using the key motif of "the orange light symbolizing glory," WOW produced the following videos to be shown on the main vision screen in the stadium.

- GIANTS PRIDE
- Video of starters' announcements
- Footage of highlights to be shown as the game develops
- Head shots of all players
- C.I.

Aiming for an immersive experience that is a world apart from conventional stadium video, we designed a projection mapping-like presentation that makes use of the huge screen and powerful camera work using 3D data of players shot by Sony's volumetric camera. The text, including player names and numbers, was stripped down to the bare minimum possible to create a simple and powerful graphic design that expresses the sophisticated universe of the Yomiuri Giants, a "top brand".

We also created the "Main Gate Image," "Environmental Image," "Post-game Thanks Image," and "Premium Lounge Image" to be projected on the giant vision and signage installed inside the dome building. Nearly 800 images were produced using orange light as a motif, with variations to keep spectators entertained. The branding of the stadium and the Dome was designed to create a sense of unity between the stadium and the Dome.

The NIJL Arts Initiative has been entrusted with the Agency for Cultural Affairs' “Strategic Project to Create Culture and the Arts,” aiming to share the classic literature accumulated at the National Institute of Japanese Literature and its network of experts beyond the research community. At the special exhibition “Opening Up a Bundle of Time,” WOW has created a video called “Journey of classic literature” that loosely connects to the power of classic literary knowledge.

■About the “Journey of classic literature”
The video is a 3D depiction of three works: “Tales of Ise,” “Guide to Famous Edo Sites,” and “Strange and Wonderful Sword Fittings” (all from the National Institute of Japanese Literature). The video shifts from Nara in the Heian period of the Tales of Ise into scenery from the Edo period. You move through the video in a first-person perspective, passing through spaces where various foreign patterns and designs float by. The theme of the video is a solo journey experiencing the knowledge scattered throughout each period and work.

■What is the NIJL Arts Initiative?
The NIJL Arts Initiative is a project started in October 2017 to open up classic literature (works written in Japan during and before the Meiji era) held at the National Institute of Japanese Literature and its accumulated knowledge of researchers to people outside of the research community. We aim to create new cultural value by having people from all walks of life freely interact with classic works of literature, which are a valuable cultural resource of Japan. “Artist in Residence (AIR)” and “Translator in Residence (TIR)” are programs to invite the world's leading artists and translators who are active in various fields to the institute and have them open up and explore classic works of literature with researchers and create new works based on the knowledge and feelings they gained from the experience.

NIJL Arts Initiative

About App
This application allows you to enjoy art installations through AR (augmented reality) + motion graphics. The goal is to turn any environment into an art installation.

The Peacock Moth
This work is an exploration of the beautiful “shapes” of various moths. It draws inspiration from the short story “Jugendgedenken (Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth)”ß by Hermann Hesse.

WOW PORTAL
The year is 2031. Technology has advanced dramatically and WOW inc. has invented teleportation using quantum technology. Using this, humans can now travel around the world with a terminal.

EVERYDAY
Depicts everyday motifs with extraordinary animation and dynamics.
By viewing through AR on top of reality, reality and unreality intermingle, creating a scene with unclear boundaries.

Betweener
A dancer that dances in the space between reality and an imaginary world line. Expresses people of nowadays who are digital natives and enjoy coming and going seamlessly between the real world and an imaginary world online.

Loop of Life
The phenakistoscope is considered to be the ancestor of animation.
Combining the oldest and most modern technology, the various activities of life that have been repeated throughout the ages are depicted.


▶WOW AR iOS App Download
▶WOW AR website
*Only the iOS version (free) is available. The Android version is not yet available.

By using AR, it has become possible to display art, hold live events and promotions in places that were previously difficult to implement. With regard to video installations, we can now be released from the restrictions of playback equipment and projection environments. Furthermore, by linking IT (Information Technology), it is possible for many people to experience the content at the same time. WOW started a new experimental AR project “WOW AR Art Platform” because of the unknown possibilities of expressions and experiences in the augmented reality space where legal rules have not yet been set. “WOW AR Art Platform” aims to use AR to create an art installation in any environment. When AR brings motion graphics into the real world, what kind of feelings will users have and what kind of design will be demanded? This application “WOW AR” was created as a first step at an attempt to open up the possibility of new motion graphics using AR.

audio-technica's analog record player SOUND BURGER. Long-awaited new colors have appeared for the popular model that was reprinted for the first time in about 40 years and sold out in an instant last year. WOW was in charge of directing and producing this video.

The story is that SOUND BURGER, which appeared in the 1980s, travels through the ages and returns to the present age to save the records that no one listens to anymore. The situations that threaten the records are expressed as stages of the game, the three new colors of SOUND BURGER become the heroes, and they are depicted saving the unheard records. Inspired by SOUND BURGER's retro design from the '80s, we created a video with a worldview and pixel animation resembling an 8-bit shooting game. We aimed to convey the charm of SOUND BURGER by creating a retro-pop worldview that fuses nostalgia and novelty.

The pixel animation was produced in collaboration with pixel artist EXCALIBUR, who has a unique worldview, and the music was produced in collaboration with TORIENA, who specializes in expressions that fuse chiptune and modern music.