Russian company Hello IO has opened a new multimedia park in the Philippines in early 2020.

In January this year Russian multimedia park developer Hello IO opened a new site Hello Japan (Japan Park) in Manila (Philippines), dedicated to Japanese culture.

The park's location was Robinsons Galleria South, one of the most popular and visited shopping malls in the capital and the country as a whole. The project was designed from the ground up by a Filipino partner, development began in the early spring of 2019 and took over eight months to complete.

Park opening plan

When creating a new project, Hello IO is guided by an internally agreed park opening plan. When working with new content, this process takes an average of four months or more.

The team of experts works thoroughly through each stage of the project: from an idea to a well-thought-out concept with all the technical features of the project can take up to two months. During this time, Hello IO developers describe in detail the creative idea for a park, museum or exhibition, approve it with the client and move on to the next stages, which include technical room plans, preparation of plans for renovation work, and content development.

For the entire project, as well as for each zone, a special team is organized, which includes an art director, software lead, graphic designer, engineers, programmers, testers, project manager, and so on.

For "Japan" park there was specially created a common music theme and separate melodies for each zone including the voiceover of all small actions to achieve the feeling of maximum immersion into the content.

Park "Japan"

The entire "Japan" park project aims to introduce visitors to the amazing culture of this country, its heroes, folk art features and natural beauties and treasures.

The eleven interactive zones that make up the park are spread over a total area of about 500m². And the average time of visiting the attractions is 45 minutes.

Each zone of the park is a spectacular visual feast designed to stimulate the imagination and creativity of children aged 2 to 10. Japan" park presents the concept of a multimedia "phygital" (physical + digital - integration of the physical and digital world) playground, where physical objects and actions are combined with interactive projections.

The multimedia park begins with the Netplay attraction, a multi-level and multi-layered maze. The colours and patterns of the maze are inspired by renowned artist Yayoi Kusama, who provides visitors with an opportunity to experience Japanese art and culture on the playground. Next, children cross the traditional bridge to enter the park. This is another distinctive and famous symbol of Japan, but with a modern playful twist. Instead of the dark and heavy wooden planks that are often associated with torii gates, the gates are made in a whimsical "kawaii" fashion.

Inside the park, there is no logical order and one can play as the children prefer. There is no right or wrong way as the areas are well designed and complement each other.

The first attraction that is located at the entrance is "Lively Drawings". This area is one of the most popular in all the Hello IO parks. The challenge for visitors is to paint birds, animals and fish in quirky Japanese patterns. The creations are scanned and then, depending on the creature, come to life through a digital projection on the wall or floor. Typical Japanese landscapes - from cherry blossom trees to snow-capped mountain tops - are depicted in the background of the installations and allow visitors to fully immerse themselves in the Japanese atmosphere.

Using floor projection and real physical objects, children can place different sea creatures, flowers and underwater rocks in the garden. The objects appear in the digital game area and can change the landscape of the multimedia picture.

The "Interactive Artist" zone introduces park visitors to the famous style of classical Japanese painting yamato-e, which was inspired by paintings of the Tang dynasty. Famous Japanese landscapes are projected on the wall, where with a digital brush you can add different images - sakura, birds or butterflies. Thanks to modern technology, visitors' simple drawings are reshaped and transformed into animated characters.

Next up are several areas of both physical and creative activities - the Slide, the Dry Balloon Projection Pool and the Origami Table. A flowing river is projected onto the slide and a cascading waterfall is projected onto the wall next to it. Water plays an important role in Japanese culture and through this attraction you can see how different fish and other organisms interact in an aquatic environment.

The multimedia park "Japan" is not only entertaining, but also educational.

First results

In the first months of the park's opening (before the pandemic and quarantine), the average attendance was about 5,000 people a month. This project is especially popular in the Philippines, as the local population is very fond of Japanese culture.

At present, Hello IO retains the rights to the content of Japan Multimedia Park, so this kind of project can be opened in any other location within two to three months.