A joint research project between KAIT and OryLab Inc. received the 72nd Electrical Science and Technology Promotion Award. This award is presented to individuals who have made outstanding achievements in invention, research and practical application, software development, education, etc. in the field of electrical science and technology in Japan, contributing to the development of various industries and improvement of people's lives in Japan, and who are expected to continue to make outstanding achievements in the future.

Awarded Subject

Demonstration experiment on remote customer service for people who have difficulty leaving the house by using the “OriHime”, an alter ego robot.

Awardee

Jizaie Inc., Kazuaki Takeuchi, Completed KAIT’s course of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2017

KAIT, Yoichi Yamazaki, Course of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

OryLab Inc., Kentaro Yoshifuji 

Summary of the award

OryLab Inc. is aiming to provide new ways to stay connected with society by the use of technology and has been operating and experimenting at “Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN ver.β” since 2018.  At Avatar Robot Café DAWN ver.β, people who have difficulty going out for various reasons work in cafes and provide customer service by remotely controlling their alter ego robots OriHime and OriHime-D. Kanagawa Institute of Technology has been involved in evaluations at the alter-ego robot café since 2018.

The awarded paper shows the elemental technologies necessary for people with disabilities or other difficulties in getting around to work remotely using alter ego robots, and the challenges society faces in accepting their use. It also suggests that social participation through the use of alter ego robots may have a positive impact on the minds and lives of people who have difficulty getting out and about. This paper is published in Digital Practices, TDP, Vol. 5 No. 2., a journal by Information Processing Society of Japan. 

The information regarding the paper is as follows.

Kazuaki Takeuchi, Yuji Hatada, Yoichi Yamazaki, Kentaro Yoshifuji, "Empirical Studies on Remote Customer Service using Telepresence Robot “OriHime” by People Who Have Difficulty Going Out”

pp.10-19, No.2, Vol.5, Digital Practices, Information Processing Society of Japan

WEB URL：https://www.ipsj.or.jp/dp/contents/publication/58/TR0502-02.html