News room

Nihon Unisys, Ltd. (Head office: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Shigeru Kurokawa; hereinafter, Nihon Unisys) and ITOKI CORPORATION (Head office: Joto-ku, Osaka; President and CEO: Yoshiro Hirai; hereinafter, ITOKI) have been conducting joint research into systems to support collaborative communication, the Near-Future Office U&I Space Project (Note 1), since November 2014. The aim of this project is to build a near-future office space that will demonstrate greater creativity, and today they will be releasing the second version (Prototype II), which is an evolution of the concept and prototype (trial model) released in November 2014.

By further combining Nihon Unisys' artificial intelligence (AI) technology with Itoki's office design knowledge, Prototype II enhances the conference room's ability to proactively make decisions, take action, and learn on its own, embodying a "meeting support space integrated with AI" that comprehensively supports the meeting experience.

This joint research project is focused on seamlessly connecting real space with digital and virtual spaces, and is researching and developing a new spatial platform (mediatizing space and turning space into an office) that supports creative work processes. Prototype I, which was unveiled in November 2014, represents a meeting support space where Common Sense AI (Note 2) helps meeting participants generate ideas and reach consensus.

In the newly released Prototype II, the conference room becomes an AI interface, understanding the atmosphere and context of the room and actively but gently approaching, expressing a "meeting support space integrated with artificial intelligence." The AI joins the discussion as another meeting participant, sometimes acting as a facilitator or moderator, sometimes as a searcher or an unusual idea person, supporting ideation and decision-making, aiming to accelerate the meeting.

Feature 1.
Participants' speech is captured in real time and broken down into words, which are then stored on the wall. The importance of each word is automatically calculated, and important keywords are displayed on the table, so the agenda and keywords can be understood at a glance.

Feature 2.
Depending on the situation, the AI will recommend information related to the keyword. When a participant touches a recommendation, the entire information will appear on the wall, and new insights from that information will spark new ideas. For example, the AI will select information resources that it thinks are necessary at the time, such as news, research papers, and books, to support the meeting. Sometimes, the meaning of unfamiliar words will be displayed on the display of the glasses-type devices worn by meeting participants.

Feature 3.
AI reads and judges the state of the meeting based on the amount of speech by the meeting participants, the order in which information is exchanged, the diversity of content, etc. The information that AI recommends to participants is determined by a mechanism that applies reinforcement learning techniques. Therefore, it is possible to recommend information that will make the meeting more lively with each passing meeting.

Through their joint research project, "Near-future Office U&I Space Project," NTT Unisys and ITOKI will promote the creation of intelligent office communication by leveraging the synergistic effects of the strengths of NTT Unisys and ITOKI.

Going forward, following proof-of-concept testing based on Prototype II, the company plans to launch a next-generation creativity support system solution on the market. Target markets include creative discussion spaces in offices where creativity is required, and active learning (Note 3) spaces in the education market, with sales of the total system, including spatial design, scheduled to begin in the first half of 2017.

That's all.

Nihon Unisys' past efforts
Nihon Unisys has been conducting research and development on the theme of natural interfaces and interactions with the space and environment when communicating. The aim is to create computers that can mediate and support communication between people. For example, this has led to research results such as the development of AI equipped with shared background knowledge and senses (common sense), semantic analysis of text using natural language processing to read and utilize the meaning contained in words, and NUI (Natural User Interface) that realizes a user experience close to human intuition.

Itoki's past initiatives
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, development, and prototyping of seamless fusion designs that allow interaction between real-world space (offices) and information space (computers).

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 [individual and organization], [divergent and convergent thinking], and [2x2], which guides 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."

At ITOKI Tokyo Innovation Center SYNQA, you can experience Prototype II of the "Meeting Support Space Integrating Artificial Intelligence."

・Event name: "ITOKI Presentation 125"
Period: Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 to Friday, November 13th, 2015, 10:00-18:00 (reception hours until 17:00)
Location: ITOKI Tokyo Innovation Center SYNQA 2F Project Booth
1-3F Sogokan 110 Tower, 3-7-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

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

<Related Links>
・ITOKI: https://www.itoki.jp/
・Nippon Unisys Research and Development (Nippon Unisys Research Institute): https://www.biprogy.com/com/tech/