WORK

Yashironi, a kimono manufacturer and wholesaler with over 300 years of history, has launched a new project titled "YSN: Slowly, Thoroughly, Enduringly" in preparation for its 350th anniversary. This project aims to "explore today's essential themes from a fresh perspective". These are the three exhibits displayed at the first exhibition, "A Study for Thinking about Kimonos".

"Omeshi" is a fabric believed to have originated as the underwear of shoguns (military leaders in feudal Japan). These exhibits recreate its unique texture, known as "Shibo" (the uneven surface of the fabric), through various methods such as comparing it with modern cooling innerwear, 3D printing, and spatial reproduction displays.

We were responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of these exhibits as technical directors.

Initially, we conducted interviews to understand the client’s dedication to craftsmanship and explored how to express this from a new perspective using modern technology. In this process, we focused on Yashironi’s signature fabric, "Omeshi", and devised a new method to display the intricate fabric structure created by skilled artisans, capturing it in high-resolution 3D data. First, we selected appropriate industrial CT scanners and 3D scanners to obtain the data. Based on the captured data and our discussions with the client, we planned and developed three types of exhibit.

The first exhibit visualizes the research process. Using a digital canvas, we freely placed text and images and used tools that allow them to be linked together to visualize the process from the initial planning meetings to the realization of the exhibit. This allows visitors to freely explore the information using a touchscreen and learn about the entire project.
 
The second exhibit features the enlarged 3D data of "Omeshi", displayed as resin tiles printed with a high-resolution 3D printer. By placing tiles of another fabric for comparison, visitors can directly touch and feel differences in texture that are not easily noticeable by sight, experiencing them from a new perspective.
 
The third exhibit allows visitors to experience the internal structure of the fabric in 3D. After considering how to best present the cross-section of the fabric, we used Sony’s newly released spatial reproduction display to present the CT scan data of the fabric in a way that can be viewed in stereoscopic 3D without the need for special glasses. Using a controller, visitors can observe the structure of "Omeshi" from various angles, discovering the tightly twisted threads and the artisans' techniques that create the fabric's coolness, all without the need for 3D glasses.