NEWS
Rakuten Institute of Technology takes the stage at CEATEC
From October 16th to 18th, CEATEC JAPAN 2018 was held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. CEATEC stands for Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, and brings together a variety of technologies at one venue to facilitate exchange of information. The stated purpose of the exhibit is harnessing cyber-physical systems (CPS) and internet of things (IoT) to create business opportunities based on co-creation involving a wide range of industries and fields. This is done to facilitate the realization of Society 5.0, a super-smart society designed to further economic development and the solution of social problems. Rakuten Institute of Technology participated both with a presentation and an exhibit.
The presentation was by Masaya Mori, Global Head of Rakuten Institute of Technology, and covered topics such as the public release of Rakuten data, its use cases, and how we collaborate with the business side in our research. One of the main takeaways was how at Rakuten Institute of Technology the researchers don’t make their research plans by themselves. Instead, they involve the business side, and together they discuss what is needed from the business perspective and what is feasible from an academic perspective, and together see how they can realize value for the business through research.
Additionally, he talked about how Rakuten Institute of Technology does not approach the online and offline worlds as opposing each other, but through our research vision called the Third Reality, we seek to integrate the online and offline worlds with the goal of creating new and better user experiences. This was then explained further using the example of the Remote Styling Support System that was also exhibited at the event.
The Remote Styling Support System is integrated into a car, making it easily movable and it can operate from anywhere. The system allows the users to get remote support and styling advice through a camera and screen setup, with items overlaid on the user to see how the items fit and look on them. This allows for a smooth experience where the stylist and user communicate and try on different options, just like how customers are used to in regular stores, no matter the location. This is one of many ways our research is looking at bringing the online and offline worlds together to provide new customer experiences to people.
If you are interested in reading more about CEATEC, the Remote Styling Support System, or the Third Reality vision, see the links below.
