Trends come and go. Their popularity goes up and down. And anyone with an Oculus VR Headset and ELSACO Motion Simulator Combine can ‘ride the waves of popularity’ of any trend. Yahoo Japan Corp. (Yahoo! JAPAN) and Japanese digital agency, dot by dot inc. (dot x dot), have developed the world’s first virtual roller coaster simulator. It lets users ‘ride’ up and down on a roller coaster track that is in tandem with changing waves of the popularity of a keyword used in SNS postings.
Say what? The roller coaster uses the changing number of SNS postings containing a chosen keyword, shown in the form of a line graph in Real Time Search of Yahoo Search, and transforms it into a virtual 3D trending waveform. The rider wears on an Oculus Rift head-mounted display for a 360-degree virtual reality, and gets into into a Motion-sim driving simulator to enjoy the feeling of riding in a real-world roller coaster.
Yahoo! JAPAN and dot x dot have been promoting new forms of advertising, using its theme, Art & Technology. The new Yahoo Trend Coaster is the concept model for the feel of the future of Internet advertising as Yahoo! Japan sees it.
Yahoo! Japan has already attracted a large audience with Hands on Search released in 2013, a voice-activated 3D printer attached to the Internet search engine that can create real objects. It not only created a buzz around the digital audience, but also made a wider point about the way we think about the internet.
“The internet will no longer be something that’s accessible only on screen but to more something physical. Yahoo Trend Coaster takes further steps to bring more instinctive and entertainment value of what Yahoo! Japan calls “future for the Internet”, dot x dot stated.
Yahoo! JAPAN launched a new mini-site to coincide with the announcement, and a YouTube video:
How to enjoy Yahoo Trend Coaster
- Before stepping into Yahoo Trend Coaster, voice your favourite keyword or any keyword of your choice into the system.
- A trending 3D waveform generated from a keyword input will set the course of a roller coaster ride.
- Put on a head-mounted display and slip into an action simulator which will move in tandem with the ups and downs of the generated ride.
You can check up on any latest trend, including sporting results, public opinions on what is going on in the world, and new product reviews, by searching Twitter and Facebook posts with a keyword.
