Providing Live Starry Sky Camera Footage to VRChat's 'Astronomy Club' World

The Asahi Shimbun Company (President and CEO: Katsu Tsunoda) is providing live starry sky camera footage from its 'Asahi Astro LIVE' project to the VRChat official public world 'Astronomy Club,' which has been open since March 12, 2026, by MyDearest Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Kento Kishigami), in which Asahi invested in April 2025. This provides an astronomical observation experience where users can enjoy the starry sky within a virtual space.

VRChat is a social VR platform operated by VRChat Inc. (USA) that allows users to interact with people around the world through avatars. The 'Astronomy Club' world is a space themed around a 'club room connected to space,' operated by MyDearest.

Inside the world, real-time footage from the 'Asahi Astro LIVE' project—including feeds from the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii (home to the Subaru Telescope), the Atacama Desert in Chile at an altitude of 5,000 meters, and Fukushima Prefecture—is broadcast continuously on monitors. Users can view the starry sky as observed from different locations on Earth while remaining in the virtual space of VRChat.

Asahi Shimbun invested in MyDearest in April 2025 and is conducting joint research and development that combines its information assets with MyDearest's technical capabilities. This video provision is part of an effort to explore new possibilities for journalism and content. 'Asahi Astro LIVE' has achieved scientific results through 365-day, 24-hour live streaming, and this initiative aims to reach more people with an interest in space and science through new technologies and expressive methods.