If you are reading this from Japan and you are interested in science and self-described “nerdy” things, you may be interested in Space Café Tokyo and Nerd Nite Tokyo.
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I recently learned that Space Café and Nerd Nite were not conceived by nerdy expats, but are the Japan-based branches of a global community. The basic premise of both centers on a handful of speakers who give short presentations on topics of interest. In some cases, the speakers are experts in their fields, in others, they are passionate hobbyists. It’s like TED Talks meets Toastmasters, but for science.
This past July, I went to a Space Café Tokyo event co-hosted by Nerd Nite Tokyo to listen to a friend’s presentation. The July event was held at a British pub in Shimokitazawa, a trendy Tokyo neighborhood, and the venue was packed. Presentations were in English and live-streamed.
Nerdnite Tokyo, July 2022
More recently, I virtually attended a Nerd Nite Tokyo event held at the end of October. I’d recommend going in-person, if possible, although virtual participation generally seems to be free. The event was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm, and about 10 minutes past the scheduled start time, unforgivable from the perspective of timely Japan, the feed started.
The presenters for Space Café and Nerd Nite do not coordinate on topics. Unsurprisingly, Space Café presentations focus on space. Anything from exoplanets to alien life. On the other hand, Nerd Nite is more varied in that presenters are allowed to speak on anything that interests them. This means that even if one presentation or topic is “meh,” the next one is usually on something unrelated that could be right up your alley. The Nerd Nite event I streamed had one presentation on creating an avatar, a presentation on synthesizers, sound, and creating pitch, and the last presentation was on one guy’s collection of SIM cards from different countries.
In the talk about a future with avatars, the speaker described how we can use our phones to create realistic avatars. But however realistic the avatars appear; we humans are not yet able to fully integrate with one. The next challenge for developers is to create a sense of “body ownership” with one’s avatar. Along with body ownership, a sense of “self-location,” a core concept of self-consciousness and how one experiences one’s body occupying space, was spoken about as an important concept in helping human users to integrate better with their avatars. The audience asked about the development of smell and taste while in a virtual environment and how that could contribute to creating a sense of self-location. In short, it would help a lot, but development is still in the early stages.
nerd nite tokyo
The event vibe is friendly. Even if you go alone, you can jump into conversations with other attendees. The hosts encourage everyone to order food and drinks. And tipsy, self-declared “nerds” are fun to chat with. Both events included an intermission of about 15 minutes. Going in-person will set you back between 1,000 and 1,500 yen and includes one drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). The event hosts tend to choose the same venues and these places tend to have several food choices. The option to watch on YouTube opens the event up to people outside of Tokyo and to those who may prefer the comfort of eating and drinking at home.
I would like to end with some stand-out quotes from Nerd Nite:
“Anyone study music?”
“Be there and be square.”
“You can be the anthropomorphic 3D furry you always wanted to be.”
I recently learned that Space Café and Nerd Nite were not conceived by nerdy expats, but are the Japan-based branches of a global community. The basic premise of both centers on a handful of speakers who give short presentations on topics of interest. In some cases, the speakers are experts in their fields, in others, they are passionate hobbyists. It’s like TED Talks meets Toastmasters, but for science.
This past July, I went to a Space Café Tokyo event co-hosted by Nerd Nite Tokyo to listen to a friend’s presentation. The July event was held at a British pub in Shimokitazawa, a trendy Tokyo neighborhood, and the venue was packed. Presentations were in English and live-streamed.
Nerdnite Tokyo, July 2022
More recently, I virtually attended a Nerd Nite Tokyo event held at the end of October. I’d recommend going in-person, if possible, although virtual participation generally seems to be free. The event was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm, and about 10 minutes past the scheduled start time, unforgivable from the perspective of timely Japan, the feed started.
The presenters for Space Café and Nerd Nite do not coordinate on topics. Unsurprisingly, Space Café presentations focus on space. Anything from exoplanets to alien life. On the other hand, Nerd Nite is more varied in that presenters are allowed to speak on anything that interests them. This means that even if one presentation or topic is “meh,” the next one is usually on something unrelated that could be right up your alley. The Nerd Nite event I streamed had one presentation on creating an avatar, a presentation on synthesizers, sound, and creating pitch, and the last presentation was on one guy’s collection of SIM cards from different countries.
In the talk about a future with avatars, the speaker described how we can use our phones to create realistic avatars. But however realistic the avatars appear; we humans are not yet able to fully integrate with one. The next challenge for developers is to create a sense of “body ownership” with one’s avatar. Along with body ownership, a sense of “self-location,” a core concept of self-consciousness and how one experiences one’s body occupying space, was spoken about as an important concept in helping human users to integrate better with their avatars. The audience asked about the development of smell and taste while in a virtual environment and how that could contribute to creating a sense of self-location. In short, it would help a lot, but development is still in the early stages.
nerd nite tokyo
The event vibe is friendly. Even if you go alone, you can jump into conversations with other attendees. The hosts encourage everyone to order food and drinks. And tipsy, self-declared “nerds” are fun to chat with. Both events included an intermission of about 15 minutes. Going in-person will set you back between 1,000 and 1,500 yen and includes one drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). The event hosts tend to choose the same venues and these places tend to have several food choices. The option to watch on YouTube opens the event up to people outside of Tokyo and to those who may prefer the comfort of eating and drinking at home.
I would like to end with some stand-out quotes from Nerd Nite:
“Anyone study music?”
“Be there and be square.”
“You can be the anthropomorphic 3D furry you always wanted to be.”
