The Milky Way can be seen from any city, town, and shooting stars are easily visible even when it's not during the meteor shower season, so if you look up at the night sky, you can reach the stars, so they call themselves “Hoshitori Prefecture,” and are actively carrying out starry sky tours, etc. with the desire that people can enjoy Tottori Prefecture even more. However, unfortunately, in cases where the weather is not blessed, it is impossible to see that starry sky.
　Therefore, in 2019, Tottori Prefecture held an open call for VR experience content for a starry sky using VR, and our proposal was adopted.

In the contract project in 2019, we developed a viewing application compatible with shooting 360 videos of Starry Sky VR and flat video for promotion, creating content, and simultaneous VR playback of content and conducting starry sky quizzes. Also, in connection with a collaboration project between the sightseeing train “WEST EXPRESS Ginga,” which JR West began operating on 2020/9/11, and Tottori Prefecture, we have also developed a viewing application that allows you to watch VR videos of the starry sky of Hoshitori Prefecture on the train.

When shooting starry sky VR and promotional videos, time-lapse photography was performed using a 250-degree fisheye lens, wide-angle lens, and a single-lens reflex camera. Shooting was carried out at Tottori Sand Dunes, Saji Astro Park, Oyama, and Hashizu Beach, which are starry sky spots in the prefecture, and content of multiple lengths is being created, such as content where you can VR experience the starry skies of various seasons with narration by Ueda Marie, “Tottori Hometown Ambassador,” and a starry sky guide summarizing the starry skies of Sazi Astro Park and Oyama in 1 minute.

As for the configuration of the video viewing application, OculusGo, which is inexpensive and easy to use, was adopted as the hardware (HMD), and software for Android devices was developed for monocular viewing for children. Since it assumes not only standalone operation, but also simultaneous viewing by multiple people, we have developed an application that can control multiple HMD/Android terminals from a PC via a network in order to achieve content selection, simultaneous playback/stop, etc.
　Also, with regard to the “Starry Sky Quiz” function, we have developed an application that can be enjoyed even when the starry sky is not visible by making it possible to ask questions from the PC above.

Currently, the “Hoshitori Prefecture” content produced and the complete hardware delivery set are being rented to travel agencies etc. within the prefecture through the Tottori Prefecture Tourism and Exchange Bureau, and are being used at various events.