Visit Tokyo: Sony ExploraScience

I love taking the kids to science museums. They have so much fun, while learning all about science at the same time. While in Tokyo, we took them to Sony ExploraScience, where they had a blast learning all about the concepts of light, sound, and entertainment through various exhibits.

Sony ExploraScience is divided into four zones: a Sound Zone, a Light (Imaging) Zone, a Theater & Workshop Zone, and an Information & Entertainment Zone (a majority of exhibits are in the Sound and Light Zones).

Upon entering Sony ExploraScience, one of the first things guests see is a huge Augmented Reality screen, in which all sorts of props and accessories appear on screen on and next to guests.  The kids got a kick out of seeing all the different hats that popped up on their heads.

AR Mirror

There's also a super fun photo opp in which guests can "change" into different costumes. This was a favorite, as my kids kept going back to this exhibit to see what kinds of clothes they'd be dressed with.

The kids kept going to this exhibit again and again and again.

Another of my kids' favorite exhibits was the Motion Capture Puppet.  The kids enjoyed moving in all sorts of ways while watching the puppet move in the same manner.

Another kid fave - getting the "puppet" to move 

One of my favorite exhibits was the Holowall Table.  We all have tried to make shadow puppets at one point in our lives, and this exhibit brought the shadow puppets to life!

First make the shadow...

and see what appears!

A couple of my other favorite exhibits revolved around smiles.  At the first smile exhibit, guests get their smiles scored, and if you make it into the top 11, your photo gets displayed on a body of a team of the top 11 "smilers" until someone beats your score.

For those who don't make the top 11, your smile gets posted on an "alternate" smiler until the next person takes a smile photo.

Cute smile, but did not make the top 11!

The other smile exhibit was Smile Fight.  Here your smile is pitted against that of another live person, or against the photo of a person smiling.

Smile Fight!

There were many more interesting, interactive exhibits that kept the kids busy for a long while.

In Delayed Speech, you get to listen to your voice with a slight delay.

How does your voice sound with a delay?

In Cellular Cube, you move a cube around different "towers," which mimics how cell phones connect to towers no matter where you are.

Getting an idea of how cell phones work

In Emotional Speech, the kids had the opportunity to listen to their voices as synthesized sound expressing different emotions.

The kids controlled different tiles on display in DataTiles, making the images rewind or move forward.

DataTiles

In Digital Image DJ, kids used a magic turntable to change the characteristics of objects on screen.

Digital Image D

In OnBa, various types of sounds are emitted through each pipe.  The kids had a lot of fun going to each pipe to discover what they'd hear.

What does he hear?

Although Sony ExploraScience was a lot smaller than I expected it to be, it was still so much fun, and there really was a lot to do. In addition to the above, the boys watched a neat Immersive Wall 3D show, tinkered with musical instruments on screen, ran along with animals by creating sound waves, played with virtual marbles, manipulated 3D shapes, and so much more!

MusicSpace

3D Lab

We also watched a couple of 3D movies in the Science Theater - High Vision Ashiyama Zoo, which gave us an up-close look at the cute inhabitants, and Story of the Origins of the Universe.

Mini-experiments are held daily, and guests can also take a quiz (weekdays only).

It wasn't difficult to figure out what to do at each exhibit (instructions are available in English), and the kids sure had a lot of fun exploring different aspects of sound, light, and entertainment at Sony ExploraScience!




Sony ExploraScience
Aqua City Odaiba
Address: Japan, 〒135-0091 Tokyo, 港区Daiba
1 Chome−7−1, メディアージュ Aqua City Odaiba
 +81 3-5531-2186

Mahalo to Sony ExploraScience for hosting our admission.