National Museum of Nature and Science National Museum of Nature and Science fully virtual exhibition “Alpine Plants” will be held! ~From virtual mountain climbing to conservation~

Agency for Cultural Affairs press release (2024.11.08) Agency for Cultural Affairs [National Museum of Nature and Science] National Museum of Nature and Science fully virtual exhibition “Alpine Plants” will be held! ~From virtual mountain climbing to conservation~ The National Museum of Nature and Science, Independent Administrative Agency (Director: Kenichi Shinoda) will be holding a full virtual exhibition “Alpine Plants” that can be experienced in an online virtual reality (VR) space from November 18th (Monday). In this exhibition, we will introduce the beautiful alpine plants that color the mountains in summer through a virtual experience that allows you to explore them regardless of the season. The setting is Mt. Hakumadake in the Northern Alps. We have recreated “Virtual Mt. Hakumadake” in VR space, which you can climb at any time. This is the first content where you can experience alpine plants that change with altitude and topography in VR space while enjoying the mountain scenery and topography from a climber’s perspective. Virtual Mt. Hakumadake can be easily enjoyed even by those with no mountain climbing experience. We will also release content at a later date that introduces the crisis facing the alpine ecosystem and the museum’s efforts to cultivate and conserve alpine plants outside of their natural habitat. This exhibition shares the same theme as the special exhibition “Alpine Plants – Connection between the diversity of high mountain flowers and life” held at the Ueno Main Building, and is an initiative where you can experience alpine plants not only in the exhibition room but also online. I’m here.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/47048/875/47048-875-72278df6fe3532049f907656e3e9be9d-950×610.png

History of the virtual exhibition  The National Museum of Nature and Science has been releasing “Experience at Home! Kahaku VR” since 2020, which allows you to view exhibits anytime and anywhere by utilizing digital technology that has developed in recent years. Furthermore, starting in 2023, we have set up a “virtual exhibition room” online, which is different from the actual exhibition, and have released full virtual content such as “Tanken Square Compass VR” and “Electronic Musical Instrument Creation Exhibition”.  This time, we share the theme with the special exhibition held this year at the Ueno Main Building, “Alpine Plants – The Diversity of High Mountain Flowers and the Connection with Life,” and we will use the accumulated VR technology to create a We have created content that allows you to enjoy learning about alpine plants, which are often difficult to see, by looking at them anytime, anywhere. The main points of Mt. Hakumadake in the Northern Alps are recreated as a 3D model from aerial drone photography, allowing you to experience the landscape and topography from a climber’s perspective different from that in the exhibition room, and enjoy the diverse appearance of alpine plants. We will introduce not only the charm of alpine plants, which change depending on altitude and topography, but also the critical situation they are in. Precisely because the alpine ecosystem is in danger, museums are working to overcome the crisis. In particular, you will learn about ex-situ conservation activities that involve cultivating and conserving alpine plants outside of their native habitat. We hope that these small and beautiful plants will be a starting point for you to learn about various environmental issues such as biodiversity. Event overview
[ Main  Organizer ] National Museum of Nature and Science, Independent Administrative Agency
[ Meeting  period ] Permanent from November 18, 2020 (Monday) onwards [Publication schedule]  Monday, November 18, 2020     : The upper Daisetsu Gorge (Akimichi) scene of “Chapter 1 Virtual Mt. Hakuba” is released  Friday, November 29, 2020 (scheduled): “Chapter 1 Virtual Mt. Hakuba” flower garden, summit lodging – Hakuba Sanso,
                4 scenes from the summit of Mt. Hakumadake and toward Mt. Asahidake are released.  December 2020 (scheduled)     : “Chapter 2 Crisis and Conservation of Alpine Ecosystems” released [ Fee  Fri ] Free
[ Supervisor  Osamu ] Yoshinori Murai (Research Director, Diversity Analysis and Conservation Group, Botany Research Department, National Museum of Nature and Science)
[ Kyo  Riki ] Omachi City Mountain Museum, Hakuba Goryu Alpine Botanical Garden, Hokkaido University Botanical Garden [ Exhibition location ] National Museum of Nature and Science Virtual Exhibition Room     
https://www.kahaku.go.jp/3dmuseum/alpineplants/ [Viewable devices] PC (web browser), smartphone, tablet, VR goggles, etc. Exhibition composition [Chapter 1  Virtual Mt. Hakuba]  Mt. Hakumadake in the Northern Alps, a treasure trove of alpine plants, has been recreated in VR space using a 3D model created from drone footage and 360-degree footage. At the beginning, it starts with a video of Sarukura and Hakubajiri, and then climbs the “virtual Hakuba-dake” consisting of 5 points, including the upper part of Taisetsu Gorge (Akimichi), the flower garden, the lodging at the summit – Hakuba Sanso, the summit of Mt. Hakumadake, and the direction of Mt. Asahidake, which changes depending on the altitude and topography. You can experience the diversity of alpine plants.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/47048/875/47048-875-0e486db7eea9901d26cc01f6326d3db5-1920×1080.jpg Virtual Mt. Hakumadake Daisetsu Gorge upper part (autumn road) scene
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/47048/875/47048-875-52a49752c0cd93b7364fc51a9622a27d-1920×1080.jpg Alpine plant explanation [Chapter 2 Crisis and conservation of alpine ecosystems]  Beautiful alpine plants are also in crisis. Conservation efforts are also progressing. Introducing alpine plants that are conserved outside their natural habitats and animals that are closely related to alpine plants, and showing how protecting alpine plants not only leads to the conservation of plants, but also to the conservation of the diversity of the entire environment. Masu. We will also introduce how museums contribute to the conservation of these ecosystems, focusing on “living specimens” (living
collections) that are related to conservation.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/47048/875/47048-875-aea5bcd957fcfe92012955815ddd6817-1920×1080.jpg Space image of Chapter 2 (image under development)
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/47048/875/47048-875-5368e029c4841168e3876a95a7d65561-1415×1063.jpg Image of endangered species introduced in Chapter 2 (image under development) Virtual guided tour  Chapter 1 A virtual guided tour will be held at the virtual Mt. Hakumadake by Yoshinori Murai, Research Director, who is the supervisor of this exhibition. We are currently preparing a tour that will allow you to enjoy this exhibition more deeply, and we will announce details as soon as they are decided.