HIKARI- humanware Project:
Research on inspiration-induced ubiquitous services

In this research project, we aim to develop a society where people can live a well-being life, and so we are carrying out research on inspiration-induced ubiquitous services based on an innovative concept that helps satisfy the ultimate desire of humans: To be what one wants to be.

Ubiquitous services will have a major impact in the near future on society and on our lives. At present, one approach taken to bring ubiquitous services to reality is the creation of services that provide immediate answers anywhere and anytime when an individual encounters problems. These services are, in a nutshell, services offering convenience and services designed to assist an individual from without.

In this research project, we consider "future values" to be a well-being life, so we explore a different type of ubiquitous services based on our images of "future values". We came up with a new service concept called "inspiration-induced ubiquitous services." Unlike the conventional approach to providing ubiquitous services which focus on assistance from the outside, the inspiration-induced ubiquitous services work on the inner self of individuals and thus encourage individuals to act in certain ways.

One distinctive characteristic of inspiration-induced ubiquitous services is its motivational aspect. Instead of dispensing advice and information directly to individuals, the services are designed to provide motives for individuals to act, based on which individuals make their own decisions and act accordingly.
Some examples of inspiration-induced ubiquitous services are illustrated below.

Weight loss	Being a good son

To turn such services into reality, we came up with the following platform, and research for core technologies is under progress.

Core technologies

TPO-f sensor	For accurately understanding an individual's actions and circumstances using more than one wearable sensor to estimate time, place, occasion and feeling.
Inferring agent	Infers what information can inspire the individual based on TPO-f estimates.
Content generator	Prepares information to inspire an individual through gathering information that close to the TPO-f from databases and networks.
Optical appliances	Information terminals available to serve different daily situations and to seamlessly deliver motivational information as an individual moves around in daily activities.

Next-generation car-mounted display was selected as a national project (July 15, 2005)
Our study on next-generation car-mounted displays, an optical appliance for driving, was selected as a research and development consortium project for regional renaissance for FY2005.

Topic:Development of next-generation car-mounted displays offering far higher safety
Corporate entity responsible for management:Olympus Corporation
Project Leader:Takahiro Nakamura
Affiliation:National Institute of Industrial Safety
Parties carrying out study (on a commissioned basis):National Institute of Industrial Safety, IRI Ubiteq, INC., Pioneer Corporation, Osaka University

We finished making prototypes for mobile Eye-Trek.
Prototypes of mobile Eye-Trek, an optical appliance for mobile scenes, were completed. The Nikkei Shimbun ran a story on them.

Joint research with the Environmental Information Laboratory, the University of Tokyo (Professor Hiroshi Hosaka) was launched.
Joint research with Hiroshi Hosaka, Professor of Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo), for humanware with adaptability to physical and mental activities was launched in an effort to ultimately bring into reality inspiration-induced ubiquitous services.

ITest-development of six types of wearable sensor
As part of our effort to develop TPO-f sensors, two sensors each for measuring situations, actions, and the environment were test-developed. Verification work on the system using the prototypes is now in progress.

Prototypes of HIKARI- humanware are in the pipeline.
Humanware prototypes that incorporate the sensors described above are under development.

Yoichi Iba (Senior Researcher and Research Coordinator)