On Thursday, July 9, the final class of “Multilingual Seminar” (Liberal Arts Seminar (5)) was held in the X-Verse Arena at the Ritsumeikan Advanced Cross-verse Innovation Commons (CVIC) on Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC). Completed in 2025, CVIC is a next-generation research hub that integrates physical and virtual spaces.

This semester, this course was offered as a seminar-style liberal arts course where instruction is provided in a language (or languages) other than Japanese. Using English as a common language, students learn about multimodal communication, which—rather than relying solely on written texts—combines a variety of elements like facial expressions, eye contact, and gestures with digital tools such as video and AI. The aim of the course is to deepen students’ understanding of diverse cultures and values. Students and Teaching Assistants (TAs) from seven countries and regions participated in the course. In addition to using English, seminar students were also exposed to the TAs’ native languages of Indonesian, Thai, and Hindi, thereby deepening their understanding of the lifestyles, values, and diverse cultures that lie behind each of these languages.

For the final class, students and TAs from diverse cultural backgrounds became presenters, introducing the cultures and ways of life of their home countries in a “Mini Expo.”
The venue, the X-Verse Arena, is a state-of-the-art research facility that projects images onto five surfaces—the four walls and the floor—to create an environment in which the real and virtual worlds merge. Making use of its 360-degree screen and spatial audio, participants experienced immersive learning, encountering other cultures through images, sound, and the space itself.
The class began with an opening session led by Professor Yukie Kondo of the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences. After an AI assistant welcomed the participants in various languages, the class reviewed the course as a whole. Professor Kondo conceived the class after being inspired by an immersive environment she experienced at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. With the Expo’s Grand Ring projected throughout the arena, she said: “Presentations of the future will not involve speaking in front of a flat screen. They will use the entire space to draw people in and create shared experiences. And that future is now.”
Next, Professor Kojiro Yano of the Institute for Teaching and Learning projected the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba (“The Tale of Great Minister Ban”), a National Treasure picture scroll from the Heian period, across the entire 360-degree screen. Listening to Professor Yano’s explanation, participants moved freely through the space and enjoyed the sensation of stepping inside the scroll itself.
Following this, two TAs gave presentations on the cultures and everyday life of their home countries: DAS Adhipa from India (1st year, doctoral program, Graduate School of Life Sciences) and ICHDA Arini Dinana from Indonesia (3rd year, doctoral program, Graduate School of Life Sciences). Images included a class being held beneath a large tree in India, as well as Indonesian batik textiles, temples, and Komodo dragons, giving participants the feeling of visiting these places in real life and deepening their understanding of the other cultures.
To conclude the event, NG Yu Ting (2nd year, College of International Relations) performed the Cantonese version of “Half Moon Serenade,” originally released in Japan around 40 years ago. Her beautiful voice and accompanying imagery filled the arena, offering a powerful reminder of music’s ability to connect people across countries, languages, and even generations.

Students who participated commented, “I could feel the class with my whole body and was keenly aware of being present in the space,” and “The images were so realistic that I felt as though I were actually visiting the country.” In addition, presenter DAS Adhipa reflected, “The 360-degree screen allowed me to convey what I wanted to say in a realistic way, and being able to move around while presenting helped ease my nervousness.”

At the end of the class, Professor Kondo delivered a message : “Language is much more than a tool for communication; it is a gateway to new cultures, new people, and new worlds. I hope that this Mini Expo gave you a sense of how enjoyable it can be to open that gateway and take the next step. The real 360-degree world exists far beyond this facility. All around us, in every direction, are diverse cultures and values, as well as opportunities to meet new people. I hope today’s experience encourages you to take the next step toward discovering the diverse cultures, people, and perspectives that surround us every day.”

Looking ahead to future developments in education and research, Professor Kondo said: “I believe the X-Verse Arena is a research facility where we can explore new approaches to learning. We aim to analyze how presenters’ movement through the space, as well as their positioning in relation to the images and audience, affects comprehension, the sense of immersion, and participant engagement. Based on the insights gained, we hope to establish new approaches to presentation design and teaching in immersive environments.”