Singapore & Tokyo 2020

For my layover, I had pre-booked a visit to Team Labs Planet. In reading the reviews, in knew that I needed to have a pair of shorts handy and have to walk barefoot through the exhibit. I deliberately wore convertible pants which I could easily convert to shorts with a simple zip.

After checking in to Team Labs, I was assigned a locker to deposit my shoes and personal items and then I was directed to a series of interactive experiences as follows:

- The first experience was called "Waterfall of Light Particles at the Top of an Incline". It had me walking up a flight of stairs with water flowing down. The stairs were dark and there was only two lines of light to illuminate. I guess this was meant to isolate the senses.

- The second interactive experience as called "Soft Black Hole". Here, I entered a dark room which was lined on all sides and on the floor by a soft, foam-like fabric. My feet sank as I walked across the room, and my perspective and balance was impacted by others around me as they stepped on the spongy surface. The main thought that ran through my mind during this experience was that this might be what it feels like in an isolation room at a psychiatric facility.

- The exhibit then transitioned to a hall full of lighted strings called "The Infinite Crystal Universe". The strings sparkled and changed color and pattern.

- After the lights, I walked into a room full of giant balls with the unwieldy name of "Expanding Three-Dimensional Experience in Transforming Space - Flattening 3 Colors and 9 Blurred Colors, Free Floating". The colors again changed with the lighting. People walking through the room have to move the balls to get through the room.

- I then walked into "The Dance of Koi and People", a room filled with shin deep water. As I waded through the water, digital koi and other fish were projected onto the water surface around me. Per the exhibit description, the fish changed their course when they bumped into a human visitor or each other.

- Also in the water filled room was "Cold Life", a digital display projected onto a wall and reflected onto the water.

- The final exhibit was called "Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers", a dark room with flowers projected onto the floor and walls.

This was a fun and interactive activity with a variety of sensory and tactile experiences. After I exited the exhibit, I went to the nearby Oedo Onsen Monogatari for a relaxing soak before taking the bus back to Haneda.Read more