The KMD Forum 2021 "The Near, Interesting Future," hosted by the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design (KMD), was held over the course of two days on Saturday, July 3 and Sunday, July 4. Admission was restricted at this year's KMD Forum as a measure to limit COVID-19 infections, with approximately 3,500 people (including KMD-related events) joining at both the Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba offline and online venues.
The Takeshiba offline venue featured interactive booths for the Real Projects, which are at the core of KMD's curriculum. Presentations and talks were streamed from the online venue, including a presentation by MK Haley, who worked at Walt Disney Imagineering for many years, on the topic of "Using Past Examples to Imagine Tomorrow's Theme Parks" (MC: KMD Dean Masahiko Inakage); a presentation by Kazunori Sugiura (Professor, KMD), Jin Nakamura (Associate Professor, Atomi University), and Tokumaru Oguri (Executive Committee Chairperson, World Cosplay Summit) on the topic of the near future of nerdy activities titled "The Future of Otaku"; a round-table talk among international students and graduates of KMD on the topic of "What Things do KMD students do?"; and a presentation by KMD alumni entitled "LIFE after KMD."
While proceedings at the offline venue took place with a limited number of participants, those who joined hailed from a diverse range of age groups, allowing the event to offer new proposals for society arising out of a multitude of different perspectives, with a focus on society as it constantly changes and the role of digital technology.