OTOBACO — the world’s first gondola equipped with a spatial audio system — will launch on the Hakone Ropeway on Monday, April 13, 2026. Our company led the project as the overall producer from concept development through execution, including planning, creative direction, logo and naming design.
OTOBACO is a spatial audio gondola conceived around the idea of a “box for experiencing sound,” weaving music into the sweeping panoramic views from the gondola. By layering an immersive audio experience onto the ropeway gondola as a mode of transport, OTOBACO offers travelers an entirely new kind of journey.
We developed this project by drawing on the frameworks built through our museum practice — communicating the appeal of experiential value and sparking new discoveries in visitors.
This also links with the experience at Valley of the Earth, which opened at Owakudani Station in May 2025, expanding the museum experience where visitors can learn about the nature of Hakone.
In this project, qooop, Inc. was responsible for building the spatial audio system with technical support from Dolby Japan K.K., while pointblanc INC. and Xylomania Studio LLC contributed to the music production.

OTOBACO Credits
Planning & Project Management: Odakyu Hakone Co., Ltd., MMD Inc.
Spatial Audio System Construction: qooop, Inc.
Technical Cooperation: Dolby Japan K.K.
Music Production: pointblanc INC., Xylomania Studio LLC