Kids love to play, build and make things - it’s how they learn best. So, we wanted to use innovative technology in a hands-on way to bring space a little bit closer.

Being the home of origami, Japanese school children are well versed in paper craft. We thought combing that old tradition with the new technology of VR was the perfect way to show students how many amazing applications science has in space.

JAXA and Google created KIBO SCIENCE 360 - the first ever VR Cardboard Space Helmet that turns anyone into an astronaut.

The helmet was created from a single piece of cardboard that can be assembled like origami. Decal packs were included to personalize the helmets with once built.

Google Cardboard is built into the visor. Simply insert your smartphone and get ready to travel to the International Space Station and conduct experiments alongside Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi.

To get this project out to schools, museums and into the hands of kids we had to leverage everything we had - lucky we had space!

We hand delivered the helmet to key science and technology influencers in Japan and conducted a live YouTube stream with Takuya Onishi direct from the ISS on October 26, 2016 - to make this happen the launch date and timing had to be extremely precise!!

The livestream was hosted by YouTube creator Hajime-Shacho and astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and hosted at Tsukuba Space Center.

We invited 10 top students to receive their very own helmet and ask Onishi himself questions about life in space. Furthermore we sent hundreds of branded Kibo 360 Google Cardboard viewers to schools across Japan.

The helmet and experience was featured in a special exhibition at the Miraikan, Japan’s most popular science museum, and now lives at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Centre.

The live stream with Astronaut Onishi and it’s teaser was viewed over 1.6 million times, and the project even made it onto the national news.

The Kibo Science 360 helmet and experience is now featured in a special exhibition at the Miraikan, Japan’s top science museum, and at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Centre - visited by hundreds of school children every month.