ChatGPT cooperation AI character introduction! Announcement of the first exhibitors! Nissin Foods, JR Kyushu, Canon MJ, etc. will exhibit for the first time at the world's largest VR event "Virtual Market 2023 Summer"

· Virtual Market 2023 Summer Company Exhibit Venues in「Las Vegas」, 「Fukuoka」, and 「Akihabara」

The theme for the full year of Virtual Market 2023 is "Connect". This year, the Virtual Market will focus on deepening the connection between the "metaverse" and the "reality". From metaverse to reality, and from reality to metaverse. Through Virtual Market, HIKKY will provide solutions that connect both directions, aiming to create a world where the metaverse and the real melt into each other and both sides are enriched.

This year's corporate exhibition venues will take place in three para-realized versions of "Las Vegas," "Fukuoka," and "Akihabara".

At the "Para-real Las Vegas venue," a variety of corporate booths will line the main street, a recreation of the Strip where famous spots such as the Bellagio and Paris Las Vegas, symbols of Las Vegas, will also make an appearance.

The "Para-real Fukuoka Venue" will feature a number of corporate booths in a venue that will reproduce various sightseeing spots in Fukuoka Prefecture, including Nakasu, Tenjin, Itoshima, and Dazaifu, and condense all the attractions of Fukuoka. At the final stop, visitors will be connected to the Virtual Hakata Station, a reproduction of JR Hakata Station.

At the "Para-real Akihabara Venue," the area from Akihabara Station to the Electric Town will be recreated, and various corporate booths will appear.

Each venue will represent a para-real town that can only be created in metaverse.

In addition, as a first attempt for Virtual Market, an “AI character that can hold a conversation” based on the popular AI chatbot "ChatGPT" will be introduced as a guide on a trial basis at the event site. This AI character will be able to respond to questions from users in a conversational style, just as if it were a human being serving the customers.
Implementing AI characters in metaverse space will make it possible to serve customers unattended, without robots or other special machines. Furthermore, AI characters in metaverse space have the potential to eliminate the need to distinguish between humans and AIs at the other end of the line through avatars. Visitors can experience the "future standard" that will be realized through the development of AI technology and its application in metaverse space.

This initiative will be jointly developed with the "VRC Connections API Project," a user-driven project. As HIKKY upholds a "creator first" philosophy, the project will be implemented as an advanced initiative created together with users.

◆Para-real is a coined word that combines "parallel world (parallel world)" + "real (real world)" and refers to the parallel existence of the real and the metaverse.

· NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS CO., LTD.

Nissin will be exhibiting for the first time! A large booth with a "Cup Noodle" motif in the city of Para-real Las Vegas, where visitors can experience a tour of the "Cup Noodle" factory and enjoy an original escape action game "The Shortest Three Minutes in History," which can be enjoyed with a unique VR presentation.

<Outline of the original escape action game "The Shortest Three Minutes in History">
While participants are touring the "Cup Noodle" factory, they are suddenly put to sleep by someone and undergo remodeling surgery in an underground research facility. The participants, who have become "Cup Noodle Taisho"*, a superhuman who possesses the abilities of both human and "Cup Noodle," attempt to escape from the vast research facility by making full use of their superpowers obtained through the modification... but can they escape safely? Will the participants be able to escape safely? An original action escape game makes its first appearance on Virtual Market!
*Original characters designed by Yudetamago, well-known for Kinnikuman

· Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu)

Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu)Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) will participate in Virtual Market for the first time. The "Virtual Hakata Station," an elaborate reproduction of the real JR Hakata Station, will be located in Para-real Fukuoka. The Virtual Hakata Station will offer a variety of contents that can only be realized in the metaverse space, including devices not found in the real Hakata Station and an experience in which visitors can board a D&S train (sightseeing train) that operates in Kyushu and can only be boarded in metaverse. (Details of the contents will be released in the near future.)

Some parts of the Virtual Hakata Station will be created using HIKKY's proprietary "Vket Cloud" metaverse development engine, making it easy to visit the station from a web browser on your smartphone or PC, without the need for VR equipment.

· Canon Marketing Japan Inc.

Canon Marketing Japan is exhibiting at Virtual Market for the first time! A tower-shaped booth featuring a giant Canon zoom lens will be exhibited inside Para-real Las Vegas.

Inside the booth, visitors can experience the world of Canon's first VR lens "DUAL FISHEYE" with 4 types of stereoscopic video contents and 8 types of photo spots where visitors can enjoy taking commemorative photos with original wall art. On the rooftop of the booth, visitors can experience the appeal of Ichi-Oshi products while relaxing and enjoying the night view.

· Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Rohto will be exhibiting for the third time in total and will have its first large scale booth in Para-real Las Vegas! Inside the booth, which is designed to resemble a luxury hotel, visitors will be able to film their own avatars in a "Get Rady With Me Movie" in which they use Rohto skincare items to get ready from the time they wake up to the time they go out. In addition, a corner will be set up where visitors can learn about the skincare procedures and roles of the items used in the GRWM video.

· BEAMS Co., Ltd.

BEAMS will be exhibiting for the sixth time in a row, the largest number of Vket exhibitors! A BEAMS virtual store with a resort-like atmosphere will appear on the sea in the beach area of Para Real Fukuoka. For the first time, the sales floor will feature a selection that transcends the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds, with products from the world-renowned Tokyo brand NOMA t.d. and the virtual brand SELECT SHOP -Cornet-, which is popular for its sophisticated and realistic feel, along with BEAMS' original brands. Almost all products are available both for avatars and for wearing in real life, responding to lifestyles that allow people to freely enjoy fashion. On the submarine floor, there will be a 3D costume fitting function and a runway where visitors can watch their avatars walk, and fashion events are planned.

In addition, a virtual customer service center will be set up in BEAMS HARAJUKU (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), the model for the virtual store, where approximately 40 employees will provide virtual customer service during the exhibition period. This will be a place where visitors who do not have VR equipment can experience the virtual store, and where they can also meet the customers they met at the virtual store in real life.

· Sorge

Sorge, an outdoor brand operated by Ichibanboshi, will be exhibiting for the second time at Virtual Market, and will have a special booth where visitors can experience authentic camping in Para-real Las Vegas. Tents and campers will be set up inside the outdoor booth, and a campfire will be set up in the center. Visitors can enjoy a real camping atmosphere with the symbols of Las Vegas in the background, and there is also a gimmick that allows visitors to play musical instruments by moving their avatars! Experience a new way to enjoy camping and music in the Metaverse.

In addition, a collaboration with HIKKY's new web browser-based metaverse service "My Vket" has been decided!

· ALPINE ELECTRONICS MARKETING, INC.

Alpine will be exhibiting for the third time at "Para-real Fukuoka". Display audio and speakers that allow visitors to experience Alpine's commitment to sound will be presented as a live stage with a sense of scale and brilliance that only a virtual space can provide. Visitors can also enjoy a music video by "Heki Yui Nene," Alpine's official VTuber who was voted by visitors at the last Virtual Market 2022 Winter. There will also be other attractions to make you feel like an influencer and a photo booth with Carica and Havana, special customized cars available only at ALPINE STYLE, Alpine's directly managed car dealerships. The booth will also feature a photo booth with Carica and Havana, special customized cars available only at ALPINE STYLE.

· AURORA Co., Ltd.

Aurora, an umbrella manufacturer established in 1896, is exhibiting at the Virtual Market for the first time! At the booth that will appear inside Para Real Akihabara, visitors can experience the creation of an original 3D umbrella using the "Aurora Digital Order System," which allows you to create the world's one and only original umbrella from a single piece simply by selecting your favorite image. In the booth, visitors can also play gachapon with various dream umbrellas, such as a "flying umbrella that can fly" and a "beam umbrella that emits a beam from its tip. In addition, 3D models of umbrellas that are actually sold are on display, and when the umbrellas are opened, various situations emerge in 360°, a gimmick that only virtual umbrellas can provide.

This exhibition is also linked to the "AURORA" store at Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku, which opened on June 10, and a campaign will be held to give visitors special tickets that can be used at the store.

· KIOXIA Corporation

KIOXIA, which will be exhibiting at the Virtual Market for the first time, will have a booth in "Para-real Vegas". In the booth, visitors can enjoy an interactive riddle-solving game. Visitors will be able to help AI, who has lost his memory, by going clockwise around the four colored rooms and answering the quiz in each room.

A number of other companies will also be exhibiting! More details on other corporate exhibitor booths will be announced as they become available.

Please look forward to the event starting July 15th.

【List of exhibitors, cooperating companies, IPs and artists】※In no particular order, companies announced as of June 20th

Kyushu Railway Company / Nissin Foods Corporation / JVC Kenwood Corporation / Japan Racing Association (JRA) / Pilot Corporation / Canon Marketing Japan Inc. Entertainment / Sammy Corporation / Sorge / Alpine Marketing, Inc. / Aurora Inc. / Robot Consulting / Doctors Without Borders Japan / Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture / Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture / Tokyo Marui Co. BELQ / Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store / KIOXIA Corporation / Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology / Nishi-Nippon Railway Company / Nishi-Nippon City Bank / Third Wave Corporation / dospara / Namco Bandai Music Live / Gamer Supps® / Polygonal Mind / UUUM / UUUM J-Cast Corporation / TCL RayNeo / Toyo Kensetsu K.K. / SO.ON project LaV Tokyo School of Music & Dance / Toei Company, Limited / Kyowa Kikou Corporation / Fujii Electric Corporation / Toppan Printing Company / Kana Pro Market / Wakasa Life Corporation / Co. Bic Camera / HUB Corporation / Sumitomo Fudosan Belsalle / Pan Pacific International Holdings / Onoden Corporation / Akihabara Entas / TSUKUMO / Meidorimin / NieR:Automata / Saint Kammers II / Akakutei no Tomo / Criclo, LLC GMO Pepabo / Schwarzkopf got2b / Core Mix / / Disney Plus / Fukuoka Tower / RKB Mainichi Broadcasting Corporation / Sunmold Japan / Wasabi Music School Project / THK Corporation / Sangoya Corporation / ViREM, LLC / Iron Works, Ltd. / BitSummit / OffKai Expo

Virtual Akiba World

Name: Virtual Market 2023 Summer

Hosted by: VR Corporation HIKKY

Dates: Metaverse venue→July 15 (Sat.) to 30 (Sun.), 2023 (16 days in total)

Real Venue→July 29 (Sat) and 30 (Sun), 2023 (2 days in total)

Theme：Connect

Corporate Exhibition Venues: Para-real Las Vegas / Para-real Fukuoka / Para-real Akihabara

Real venues: Bellesalle Akihabara and other facilities and stores in Akihabara town will also host collaboration contents

Official SNS:

Twitter→https://twitter.com/Virtual_Market_

YouTube→https://www.youtube.com/c/vketchannel

Instagram→https://www.instagram.com/vket_official/

Official website: https://event.vket.com/

Official website of the real event: https://event.vket.com/2023Summer/real/

How to visit: https://event.vket.com/access

You can visit the special world in VRChat from VR devices and gaming PCs.

Some browser-based venues will be available for visitors to enter by simply clicking on the URL from a smartphone or other device.

https://vket.com/#event (*Venues of each exhibitor will appear on the page on the left starting July 15)

Some of the venues can also be accessed from Meta Quest itself.

We are now accepting applications from corporate exhibitors for "Virtual Market 2023 Winter" to be held from December 2 (Saturday), 2023. For more information, please contact us using the form below.

Inquiry for corporate exhibitors: