Toyota City Enters the Metaverse Fast Lane: Partnering with Giants to Build a New Model for Future Cities!

As digital waves sweep the globe and the metaverse moves from science fiction to reality, it's not just a virtual space for gaming and entertainment—it's quietly transforming how we imagine future cities.

Recently, Toyota City in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, made a major move: they partnered with Cluster, a leader in the metaverse field, and brought in TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR), the star racing division of automotive giant Toyota, to formally launch a futuristic "Next-Generation Metaverse City Development" project. This isn't just a boring "digital twin"—it's an innovative city experiment aimed at connecting reality with virtual worlds and inspiring deep citizen participation, especially among younger generations!

The project's core concept is to create a "living" digital space. It's not just a technology showcase, but fertile ground where citizens, particularly the younger generation, can actively participate in urban planning and development. TGR's passion and expertise in motorsports are cleverly integrated, infusing the metaverse world with learning and exchange vitality. Simply put, Toyota City's goal is to explore a new reality-virtual fusion model for regional revitalization, where reality and virtual empower each other to drive the city forward.

The project's "appetizer" is enough to get the adrenaline pumping—the "Virtual Toyota Stadium" is now online and offers stunning racing experiences! Starting at 10 AM on November 1, Reiwa 7, you can access this digital racetrack anytime, anywhere, from home or school. Behind this is "Bakusou Club," a metaverse game co-developed by Cluster and TGR, seamlessly integrated with Toyota City's "Metaverse Toyota" platform, bringing the real Toyota Stadium into the virtual world with extreme detail. Imagine experiencing the speed and excitement of racing here—all more accessible than ever before! For racing fans and young people, this is undoubtedly an immersive digital carnival.

Even more excitingly, the project's "main event" targets the next generation. In the second phase, Toyota City will collaborate with Aichi Prefectural Toyota Nishi High School to create a special urban development course themed around motorsports. These future urban designers will freely conceptualize their ideal cities in the metaverse, even incorporating thrilling racing experiences. They must not only consider the city's prosperity and vitality but also balance safety and order, finding the optimal equilibrium between reality and virtual to contribute their innovative ideas to future urban development.

This special course isn't just theoretical. TGR will share exclusive insights into track design and vehicle performance; Cluster will provide guidance on using 3D city models and immersive experience design suggestions; and Toyota City will share valuable experience from an administrative perspective on urban planning, crowd management, and public safety. Students will have opportunities during five practice days from November to December of Reiwa 7 to put theory into practice and deeply understand the complexity and sophistication of real urban development.

In the future, this "Next-Generation Metaverse City Development" project will continue to evolve. Toyota City and Cluster will serve as core drivers, continuously attracting more regional institutions, educational units, and enterprises to join in painting the grand blueprint for digital cities. The trinity of administration, education, and motorsports isn't just technological innovation—it's an imaginative social experiment that predicts a completely new possibility for future urban development.

Reference:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000388.000017626.html