Inokashira Zoo Digital Project

Visualizing the Zoo: How can the zoo be transformed into the school of the future?

This project is an artistic research initiative that consolidates digital information to create a digital twin of the zoo. In the mid-2000s, when the term “digital twin” had not yet gained widespread use, this project stitched together various forms of digitized information to visualize the social image of Inokashira Zoo. The following initiatives were realized as part of the project:
– Special workshop programs for children
– Otonoha: an audio guide system created by children
– Heartbeat: an audio service to listen to the heartbeats of animals
– Animal Eyes: a visual service to experience the perspective of animals
– Inokashira Player: an integrated mashup web visualization of the zoo

This project emerged during the era of “Web 2.0,” a time when information generated online was no longer solely designed by authorized editors but was dynamically created based on the intentions and environment of end-users. One of the tools used to facilitate this interaction was the “mashup web application,” which combined several online APIs to create new content, regardless of commercial value. Mashup designs can weave multiple information sources into a single narrative, enabling the creation of unforeseen new services on a daily basis.

The zoo project was an experiment to test how mashup content could connect facilities to the real world. We conducted this research at Inokashira Zoo, a small zoo operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The project began as an investigative effort, including workshops, to develop media aimed at promoting the zoo.

The project implemented a mashup web content called “Inokashira Player,” which generated online information uniquely linked to the real “places” and “animals” at Inokashira Zoo. When users accessed this web application, the content was dynamically adjusted based on the time of access and the weather information for Inokashira Zoo (real-time weather graphics were generated from online weather reports). In front of each animal, there were icons representing staff members, and clicking on them displayed an image library related to that animal. Additionally, icons representing zoo visitors were displayed, and when clicked, they showed the viewpoints and opinions of previous visitors regarding that specific animal at Inokashira Zoo (extracted from blogs using the Google API). For example, by retrieving information from keywords like “Inokashira Zoo and Elephant,” the application was able to visualize real-time viewpoints of visitors to that animal.

The main feature of this application is that it realized information design extracted from the physical space by obtaining unique keywords (in this case, “Inokashira Zoo”) and the names of each animal. By linking personal blogs to unique names and physical spaces, this approach enables the reflection of societal viewpoints and opinions.

Project page
https://www.howeb.org/zoo/