What is the REALITY Staff Interview?

Hello everyone!
Thank you for always enjoying REALITY.
I’m SHARI, from the Community Team.🍣

What is this article, you ask?
For some time now, we have received several questions such as “What kind of work the REALITY management do?”, “Who are the people behind REALITY?” and more, so we started a new article to showcase some of our staff members and employees! Welcome to the REALITY Staff Interview! 

Second Guest

ー And our second guest is…!
From REALITY’s Server Team, Mr. Usuginu!


Usuginu: Hello~! I’m a server engineer in REALITY, my name is Usuginu! Nice to meet you!

SHARI: Welcome! I occasionally meet with Mr. Usuginu at drinking sessions, but to help everyone get to know Usuginu better, I would like to ask a few questions again.

■Hobbies and how to spend private time

ー Do you have any hobbies, Mr. Usuginu?
Usuginu: Actually, I like tools related to “audio.” It's a hobby of mine to create speakers, amplifiers, and headphones. Although, I haven't been doing it for the past two years.

ー I'm amazed to hear that you create headphones! What got you started with that hobby?

Usuginu: My father was a speaker enthusiast, so I had exposure to audio setups from a young age. Around middle school, I started occasionally building speakers and had plenty of opportunities to observe them. My interest in headphones also developed during my school years.

Usuginu: It's a story from over 10 years ago when I was in middle school, but I still vividly remember the excitement of buying the SHURE SE215 earphones. These are well-known earphones that you can get for around 10,000 yen (around 70 USD). Up until that point, I had only heard of cheap earphones from the 100-yen store, so the SE215 was a completely different experience! That's when I was deeply impressed and it sparked my interest in earphones.
When you go to an electronics store, you'll find dozens of different earphones, each with a distinct sound. I really enjoy spending time comparing them. I used to have a lot of fun with friends, trying out dozens of different earphones and asking questions like, "What kind of sound do you think this one has?”

SHARI: Feeling the subtle differences in sound is truly remarkable. It seems like your engineering mindset, Usuginu, has been nurtured through involvement in craftsmanship from a young age.

ー Just hearing that you enjoy making things might give the impression of being more indoorsy, but it seems like you, Usuginu, are quite the opposite and enjoy going out as well, right?

Usuginu: Yeah! I went glamping the other day. 😄
There’s a place called Mother Farm open to glamping now, and I wanted to check it out.

SHARI: Glamping on a farm?!

Usuginu: Yes, at the farm. It's like a workshop where you can make butter and then use that butter for a barbecue dinner. The homemade sausages were incredibly delicious; it was a fantastic experience. You can also go for an alpaca walk, try milking cows, and more, so it seems like a great option for families with kids, especially as a summer vacation activity or a fun learning experience.

SHARI: That sounds amazing!

Usuginu: The best part is that as a server engineer, you're constantly staring at a computer, dealing with digital graphs and such. So, taking a break from all that and immersing yourself in nature without a computer is an amazing feeling.
SHARI: I see. So it's a way to digitally detox and disconnect from that aspect.

Talking About Work

■ About the Server Engineer job

ー What kind of work do you do specifically?

Usuginu: In a nutshell, I'm involved in building the backend infrastructure, as well as its operation and maintenance. This includes tasks such as managing user information, streaming data, creating systems to enable various functionalities, and ensuring stable operations. One recent project I worked on, for example, involved setting up the infrastructure for the shop.

SHARI: The avatar shop, right? I would like to hear some details!

Usuginu: I primarily work on creating the server's program and architecture. When the server's infrastructure is in place, the REALITY app can access it to display information from the avatar shop and allow users to make purchases. I play the role of passing the necessary information to the REALITY app and act as the "custodian/manager" of that information. It's similar to how regular websites function. For instance, when you press a button for item details, the server sends information to the app. In the context of REALITY's items, this information includes details like the sales period, whether it's an F-type item, available colors, pricing, and other such data, which I program into the system.

ー So you're one of the "unsung heroes" working on the backend. Regarding the common user feedback about apps being "slow" or "fast," how does the server team address this aspect?

Usuginu: For instance, if we compare the communication path from the REALITY app to the server as a "road," when the app feels "slow," it's often like encountering heavy traffic at toll booths or traffic lights, or the road itself has sunk, making progress difficult. Server engineers work on finding these bottlenecks and implementing solutions. For toll booths, they may create multiple lanes to distribute the load, and for traffic lights, they prepare shortcuts based on the destination to ensure smooth traffic flow. Additionally, in areas where the road has sunk, they take measures to prevent it from sinking again in the future and promptly repair the road.

SHARI: I see! Thank you for the easy-to-understand analogy!

Usuginu: Certainly, there are various ways to enhance it. In addition to what we discussed earlier, we also introduce equipment that can detect weak points in the road, allowing us to fix them before the road deteriorates. It's crucial to have monitoring facilities at traffic lights and toll booths that can detect traffic jams immediately when they occur. Besides straightforward enhancements like adding toll booth lanes, indirect improvements that enhance road stability are equally important. It's just an analogy, but through these efforts, we're striving to ensure everyone can enjoy the app comfortably.
SHARI：It's the result of diligent efforts, isn't it? Thank you always!

■What is the most enjoyable moment for you in your work?

ーIt might be challenging to imagine what's "fun" as a server engineer, so how is it in reality?
Usuginu: I understand that it might be a bit difficult to imagine. Recently, I worked on developing the room feature, and of course, it's a great feeling to see users enjoy it when we release it. On the other hand, what's really enjoyable is when we not only address an issue but also manage to eliminate the root cause. Fixing the root cause means that the specific issue won't occur again!
... I sincerely apologize for this, but honestly, during REALITY's 3rd anniversary, we faced a lot of issues, and there were multiple problems that overlapped. However, by methodically addressing each problem one by one, and eventually, when we reached a point where we had no issues during the 3rd anniversary event, I thought, "We did it!"

SHARI: Now that you mention it, there haven't been any major server outages recently, have there?!


Usuginu: Lately, I've received feedback from users along those lines, and it genuinely makes me happy. Even if I'm not talking directly to the users, hearing the responses from users is a significant source of motivation. When users say, "Please convey our gratitude to the developers!" it somehow brings joy to me as well.

SHARI: I completely get it. It’s really motivating, right?

■How I decided to work for REALITY

ー If there's a specific reason why you decided to work in REALITY, I'd love to hear it!

Usuginu: It might have all started when I was originally doing research on VR in graduate school. This goes back a bit, but there was this VR device called the Oculus Rift DK2, and when I experienced it for the first time, I was deeply impressed. I'm the type who dives deep into things when I'm moved by them. So, I had this moment where I thought, "Wow, I want to research this!" and I chose my research lab almost on instinct.
SHARI: They say that being passionate leads to mastery, right? Specifically, what kind of research were you doing?

Usuginu: Even though it was VR research, I wasn't developing applications for head-mounted displays (HMDs). I was actually involved in researching haptics, which is the sensation of fingertips, and the study of "moving floors." It involved exploring methods to make you feel the tactile feedback when grabbing something in a VR space with your fingers and finding ways to enable infinite walking in virtual spaces. It was research focused on realizing virtual worlds created through software in the real physical space, something along those lines.
SHARI: It's amazing, I didn't know there was research like that!

Usuginu: Exactly! In terms of the specific work, it involved a lot of math and creating devices based on mathematical formulas, then testing the effects. It was a lot of fun, even though it required meticulous calculations. Additionally, I got hooked on creating VR content and participated in a VR contest called IVRC, organized by the Virtual Reality Society of Japan. Developing VR content, having many people experience it, receiving feedback, and continuously improving the content was incredibly enjoyable. From there, I started thinking, "I want to create content that brings joy to many people," and "I want to develop products that can bring VR content to a wider audience."

Usuginu: VR used to be a bit less accessible at that time, as you needed gaming PCs and such. REALITY, on the other hand, can be done with just a single smartphone. There wasn't really anything else that could provide this level of content using such readily available tools.

SHARI: Thank you for sharing your wonderful story. Indeed, the fact that you can do it all with just one smartphone is a game-changer. I had a similar reaction when I learned about REALITY and installed it. I thought, "Wait, this is all done with just the smartphone's camera?" The amazement and impact of seeing avatars with face tracking are truly beyond measure.

Usuginu: Also, as a server engineer, I really enjoy looking at graphs and numerical data. I have a particular fondness for control engineering as a field.
SHARI: From my perspective, that seems like quite a specialized type... 😆

Usuginu: Well, that's true. My love for looking at graphs might have its roots in audio. In audio, the goal is to create waveforms that sound good, so it's all about manipulating graphs to get the desired result. When I can control a graph to my liking or see numerical improvements, it brings me a lot of joy.
SHARI: Ah, I see how it connects! Speaking of numbers, REALITY has been gaining popularity internationally lately, hasn't it? Would you like to share more about your international presence?

International Talk

■ Where do you want to visit?

Usuginu: I want to go to the United States. Especially Las Vegas.

SHARI: That sounds great! Is there something specific that attracts you to Las Vegas?

Usuginu: Every year, there's a massive esports event called EVO held in Las Vegas. I'd love to see my favorite pro gamers compete with all their passion and energy live at the event. I also enjoy the fan communities surrounding the players, and witnessing the intense rivalries between them. For instance, the East vs. West Japan rivalry, and when they bring that competitive spirit to the tournaments, it's really moving, almost enough to bring tears to my eyes.


SHARI: There’s a lot of that in the e-sports world, right?
Usuginu: Among the numerous esports tournaments, EVO's scale is truly exceptional. It's like something out of science fiction with its arena, and the entire audience passionately cheers for the players through the central display. I'd definitely like to attend as a participant or a spectator someday.

One last word to all users out there!

Usuginu: Thank you very much for always enjoying the app! We covered some challenging topics alongside the personality chat this time. Did you find it enjoyable? I hope we've successfully conveyed the image of the engineers working at REALITY, even if it's a bit complex.

Also, a big thanks to SHARI, our interviewer, for her skillful technique in making difficult topics easy to understand! Without her interviewing skills, it would have been challenging to share this information in such an accessible way. So, please look forward to the next interview article! As a reader myself, I'm excited to learn more about the behind-the-scenes episodes of REALITY development!

SHARI: Wow! Don't raise the bar too high for me! 😄
But I'll do my best to continue sharing information about REALITY with everyone! Thank you, Usginu-san, for your cooperation in this interview!

If you’re interested in that topic, we have a special note account aimed at the REALITY engineer and server teams. Unfortunately, the articles are in Japanese, but feel free to give them a read if you want to!

▼Details here: