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VR Battleship Yamato

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$44.99 • Free demo Kanda Technologies Full scale ship tour PC VR • SteamVR • Oculus PC
Released 17 August 2017 • Very Positive, 90% of 81 Steam reviews • Based on blueprints and crew recollections

VR Battleship Yamato

Walk the decks of the Japanese battleship Yamato, the largest battleship ever built, restored at full scale in VR from original blueprints and the memories of surviving crew. Climb to the bridge, step inside a main gun turret and see the ship come to life around you.

Developer: Kanda Technologies
Price: $44.99 • free demo available
Platform: PC VR via SteamVR or Oculus PC
Subject: History • Second World War
6.6
/10
XR School Score
Worth a Look
Full scale restoration • Based on blueprints and crew memories • Many areas to explore • Very Positive reviews • Expensive • PC VR only
90% • Steam 81 user reviews
Overview

VR Battleship Yamato is a full scale virtual reconstruction of the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato, developed and published by Kanda Technologies and released on Steam on 17 August 2017. Completed in 1941, Yamato was the largest battleship ever built, and she was sunk by American aircraft in April 1945. The reconstruction is based on blueprints and on the recollections of surviving crew members.

You can walk the deck, climb the bridge and go inside the ship, visiting areas including the first bridge, the interior of a main gun turret, the fire control centre, the captain's cabin, the pilot house, the hangar and the ship's kitchen. You can watch crew take command and see the main guns fire close up. It is VR only, runs on PC through SteamVR or Oculus PC, and has English and Japanese audio and subtitles. Steam users rate it Very Positive, 90% of 81 reviews.

The Scale of Industrial War Numbers like 263 metres and 18.1 inch guns mean little on paper. Standing on Yamato's deck and looking up at her turrets shows students the sheer scale of the industrial effort behind the Second World War, and raises questions about why such a ship was built and how quickly she became obsolete in an age of aircraft carriers.
Areas to Explore
⚓
The deck
Walk the full length of the ship at real scale.
🔭
The bridge
Climb up and look out from the command position.
💥
Main guns
Step inside a turret and watch the guns fire.
🍳
Life aboard
Visit the captain's cabin, hangar and kitchen.
Before You Buy At $44.99 this is an expensive experience, so try the free demo first. It needs a PC capable of VR. Gunfire is shown close up, and the ship's history ended in the deaths of thousands of crew, so think about how you frame it with students.
Classroom Value
Historical detail
7.8
Sense of scale
9.0
Curriculum links
6.0
Ease of setup
4.5
Value for money
4.0
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
  • Full scale restoration of a famous ship
  • Based on blueprints and crew recollections
  • Many interior and exterior areas
  • Very Positive Steam reviews
  • English and Japanese audio
  • Free demo to try first
Considerations
  • $44.99 is expensive
  • PC VR only
  • Limited explanation of historical context
  • Gunfire shown close up
  • Niche topic for most UK curricula
For Teachers: The War in the Pacific Use VR Battleship Yamato in KS3 and GCSE units on the Second World War in the Pacific. Ask students to compare Yamato with aircraft carriers and discuss why battleships lost their dominance. It also suits design and technology lessons on engineering and scale.
$44.99
PC VR via SteamVR or Oculus PC • Free demo on Steam
Get on Steam → Try the demo → More history apps →
Quick Facts
Developer
Kanda Technologies
Release
17 August 2017
Price
$44.99
Demo
Free on Steam
Platform
SteamVR, Oculus PC
Steam rating
Very Positive, 90% of 81
Languages
English, Japanese
Verdict
VR Battleship Yamato is an impressive, carefully researched full scale reconstruction that conveys the size of a Second World War battleship like nothing else. It is expensive, PC VR only and light on historical explanation, so try the free demo first. For history departments covering the Pacific war, it is worth a look.

Gareth Griffiths

Gareth Griffiths is a scientist and the founder of World of Teaching, a free library of over 1,000 teacher made PowerPoints. He set up The XR School to help teachers, schools and parents find virtual and augmented reality apps that genuinely help young people learn, and to give an honest view of what each app teaches, which headsets it needs and what it costs.