NEWS

Thanks to the contribution of AI plate technology from Asukanet Co., Ltd., Rakuten Institute of Technology and the University of Tsukuba, will hold a “Future Café” exhibition at Soho Sai (the university festival) from November 3rd through November 5th.

• Description :  Purpose of the festival exhibition

Rakuten Institute of Technology (RIT) and University of Tsukuba, School of Arts and Design opened a “Future Store Design Laboratory” in the University’s General Research Building D in 2016, and we are jointly conducting research and development of new shopping systems utilizing the internet and intelligent information processing technology. Our “Future Cafe” exhibition demonstrates a vision of the future featuring entertainment technology that users can enjoy in the context of a café experience and the connection between users of real stores and the internet. We will also display the results of our daily research activities that we have worked on as our laboratory. We hope that visitors will be able to see, feel and experience our research results at our Future Café.

• Description: Joint research of Rakuten and University of Tsukuba

Along with the development of the Internet, people’s habits have also changed, and online shopping has become commonplace. Furthermore, with the advances in technologies such as AI and IoT in recent years, the convenience of online shopping is expected to improve even further. However, there has been little focus on how brick & mortar shops/restaurants can generate new value from such technologies.
To address this problem, Rakuten Institute of Technology (RIT) and University of Tsukuba School of Art and Design opened the “Future Store Design Laboratory” at University of Tsukuba in 2016.

In 2016, students from both the University of Tsukuba’s School of Art & Design and the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences: Kansei, Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program, as well as researchers from RIT were engaged in research. In addition to the “Future Café” experience exhibition, in 2017, we also began more applicable empirical research by tackling practical themes through the participation of leading shops in Rakuten Ichiba. We aim to contribute to society by applying academic insights obtained in the process of experimental problem analysis to business. We would like to continue to pioneer initiatives while taking advantage of the possibilities of the University of Tsukuba and Rakuten Institute of Technology.

Future Café Opening Days & Directions
November 4th,2017 (SAT) 10AM – 7PM
November 5th ,2017 (SUN) 10AM – 4PM
Place : Tower 6A #307, #308

Future Store Design Laboratory :  http://www.geijutsu.tsukuba.ac.jp/~futurestore/

SO-HO sai (University of Tsukuba festival) : https://www.sohosai.tsukuba.ac.jp/

Asukanet Co., Ltd.  : https://www.asukanet.co.jp/