Before the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics even wind down, the hype for Tokyo 2020 is already building.
Many sponsors and national Olympic committees have made it clear they’re reserving their most expensive plans for the Summer Games that start about 29 months from now. And inside Gangneung Olympic Park, the Tokyo 2020 Japan House is eager to develop even more buzz among casual fans.
The display has two main purposes, said Hiroyuki Kobayashi, senior director, events and promotions for the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee: To excite fans about the culture and technology of Japan.
Tokyo 2020’s Hiroyuki Kobayashi explains plans to use the Olympics to help rebuild the earthquake and tsunami-ravaged region of Tohoku.Ben Fischer
“I want to suggest that all visitors can see the Japanese technology,” he said through an interpreter. “Also that Tokyo has various characteristics and attractions such as culture, nature, delicious food and the water, so people can enjoy many things in Tokyo metropolitan city.”
The small display starts with an interactive map of every Tokyo 2020 venue in the city. There, a group of Americans quizzed the staff about the distances between the “Tokyo Bay Zone” and the “Heritage Zone,” the two primary clusters of competition venues.
Then, the displays move onto still photos of sushi, sake, mountainside hiking and water sports. The technological crown jewels of the Japan House include the Tokyo Traveler, in which 3-D imaging gives guests a chance to create a virtual avatar of themselves, which is then inserted into common Tokyo streetscapes.
Another does something similar by inserting a real photo of yourself playing one of the five new sports for '20 -- sport climbing, baseball/softball, surfing, karate and skateboarding.
One last presentation deals with Tokyo’s bold plan to build all medals from discarded electronic equipment gathered from a national campaign designed to be both supply chain and marketing activation. So far, they’ve collected 1.874 tons of devices, but more is needed.
