Yōkai (妖怪) are supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons that range from the malevolent to the mischievous and occasionally bring good fortune; in Japanese folklore, they go back as far as AD 700. In this unique Augmented Reality experience we enable multiple users to encounter them together in a unique story, situated in Shunkoin, an ancient temple in Kyoto.
Left: Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎). Paper lantern ghost (提灯お化け), 1830
Right: Shunkoin temple (春光院), Kyoto.
Based on the unique characteristics of Shunkoin, we developed a non-linear story experience tied to specific landmarks of this powerful location. We selected nine Yōkai from ancient Japanese paintings and made interactive digital 3D models. We 3D scanned the temple and situated the digital Yōkai. Users wear a Microsoft Hololens to encounter the Yokai while exploring the temple. Note that the first video contains mainly realtime content captured from the users’ Hololenses; the second video includes mainly visionary renderings that were created offline.
More information and photos can be found here: https://aryoukai.com/
