For the renewal of SEGA Tokyo Joypolis, I was in charge of the image technical direction, covering the projection mapping of the main stage structure and the creation of a live 3D virtual character.

The virtual character was able to dance alongside real performers and communicate with the audience in real time. Based on motion capture and real-time rendering, its movements, expressions and lip sync were all driven live, fully synchronized with the stage lighting. What today would be called a VTuber, this was an early and ambitious attempt at bringing a virtual personality into a live entertainment context, at a time when few had attempted anything of the kind.

For the projection mapping, the complex shape of the stage structure required a carefully designed content workflow. I built an After Effects plugin to unify the different template formats used by the creators into a single format ready for the media server.

The project brought together CG creators, stage directors and dance performers, making it as much a human collaboration as a technical one.