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Nihon Unisys, Ltd. (Head office: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Shigeru Kurokawa; hereinafter referred to as Nihon Unisys) and ITOKI CORPORATION (Head office: Joto-ku, Osaka; President and CEO: Tadashi Matsui; hereinafter referred to as ITOKI) have launched a joint research project called the Near-Future Office U&I Space Project (Note 1) to develop a system to support collaborative communication, with the aim of building near-future office spaces that will unleash greater creativity.

In this joint research project, the two companies will propose an office concept for creative work that supports communication between people by combining Nihon Unisys' artificial intelligence (AI) with ITOKI's cutting-edge work style and design.

As the first step of this joint research project, we will open to the public a prototype office space that embodies this concept. In this prototype, you can actually experience an office space that enhances communication and helps form ideas and common understanding in group work.

Companies today need a place for collaborative communication that will generate new ideas for sustainable innovation to enhance their international competitiveness. Creativity is not something that only certain creators possess, but is a desirable ability for all workers in all professions, and is the driving force behind the growth of companies.

The office space of the near future will be a place where creative face-to-face communication between people can occur anywhere. Intelligent equipment embedded in places where people gather, such as cafeterias, window corners, and conference rooms, will sense the purpose of the communication that occurs there and actively direct the environment so that each person can deepen their understanding of what the other person is thinking and generate many original ideas.

Nihon Unisys has been conducting research and development into artificial intelligence (Note 2) equipped with the background knowledge and senses (common sense) that are shared as a prerequisite for human communication, with the goal of creating computers that can be integrated into and support communication between people.

At Itoki, we believe that one of the keys to creating new value is communication between people, and between people and information, and we have been pursuing office creativity for many years. We have also been using ICT to advance research and development and prototyping (the creation of models that actually work) of seamless fusion designs that allow interaction between real-world space (offices) and information space (computers).

To get creative output from group work, it is necessary for participants to stimulate each other. In the "Near-future Office U&I Space Project," we envision a conference room with a brain called "Common Sense AI" that can understand context and read the mood of the room like a human would, joining the discussion as another participant and supporting idea generation and consensus building.

As the first result of this joint research, ITOKI will unveil a prototype office space that embodies this concept at its ITOKI Tokyo Innovation Center SYNQA.

This prototype represents a space that will become a place of communication within the office. This space is equipped with a mechanism that uses Common Sense AI and ICT to pick up words from conversations taking place there, and the tables and walls within the space provide clues to spark new ideas and inspiration, and to grasp their meaning from various angles to increase common understanding.

Feature 1
By adopting ITOKI's creative process ("trans.") method (Note 3), you can freely and instantly move between the four modes of "individual and organization," "divergence and convergence," and the "2x2" that leads to creativity, to gain new ideas.

Feature 2
Common Sense AI uses voice recognition to pick up words spoken during human communication, and uses human-like associations and analogies to trigger new ideas and inspiration, and shares the meaning of the words from diverse perspectives to create a common understanding, becoming another participant in collaborative communication.

Starting with the first prototype resulting from this joint research, Nihon Unisys and Itoki will promote the creation of "collaborative communication in the office of the near future," leveraging the synergistic effects of the strengths of both companies.

Additionally, as part of the joint research project "Near-future Office U&I Space Project," the two companies will conduct prototyping and demonstration experiments with the aim of commercializing a system to support near-future office spaces within the next three years.
that's all
Note 1: "Near-future Office U&I Space Project"

The "U&I" in the project name combines three meanings: the "U" from Unisys and the "I" from Itoki, the "U" and "I" from Universal Intelligence (common sense AI that is universal to all people), and the "U" and "I" from User Interaction Space (a futuristic office space that uses ICT to support users' collaborative communication).

Note 2: Research results to date by Nihon Unisys

The research and development of this brainstorming support system using artificial intelligence (AI) is drawing on knowledge gained from the "Let's create a computer that can read the mood" project, which was conducted as part of Nihon Unisys' efforts to develop artificial intelligence (AI) with common sense.
・"Let's make a computer that can read the mood" project: http://omcs.jp/

Note 3: Itoki's creative process "trans."

It is a design concept for an organizational knowledge creation process that allows for free and instantaneous mode changes between the four modes of the creative process: [individual and organization], [divergent and convergent thinking], and [2x2], which leads individual ideas to organizational creativity. Change the environment, repeatedly shift your thinking, and transform your ideas. This is ITOKI's idea of transformation into creativity, "trans."

You can experience a futuristic office space (first prototype) at ITOKI Tokyo Innovation Center SYNQA. *Advance reservations are required.

・Exhibition location
ITOKI Tokyo Innovation Center SYNQA 2F Project Booth
1-3F Sogokan 110 Tower, 3-7-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

-Exhibition period
November 25, 2014 - March 31, 2015
(During opening hours of ITOKI Tokyo Innovation Center SYNQA)

*Company names and product names listed are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.

<Related Links>
・ITOKI: https://www.itoki.jp/