Example cases (published 2006)
Example cases (published 2006)
The following example cases introduce how Proprius21 runs and comes to fruition.
(Case studies are disclosed only with the consent of the companies involved.)
Case 1. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Updated February 28, 2006
Development of a Security System with a Built-in Function to Minimize the Impact of Secondary Disasters
The purpose of the study was to develop a system to help secure safety in areas where a large number of people gather—like schools, train stations, shopping centers and airports—and enable smooth evacuations during large earthquakes and fires to minimize the impact of the disaster. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and the University of Tokyo implemented a Proprius21 collaborative research project with the aim of using information from cutting-edge sensing technology to create a secure and comfortable urban space. As a result, a collaborative research project with more than 10 researchers from both sides was formed to develop the element technology needed for image authentication collation technology, crowd movement recognition and image processing technology, and super-high-speed recognition technology. From the University of Tokyo, a total of five departments (the School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, the Institute of Industrial Science, the Earthquake Research Institute, and the Institute of Economic Research) including some from liberal arts participated in this collaborative research. The research development budget including external incoming funds totaled a few hundred million yen, and the timeline for developing a prototype was set at three to five years. The prototype included a wide variety of features including Intruder Recognition, Shortest Evacuation Route Display, and Analysis of Customer Product Purchasing Behavior.
This collaborative research project started in April 2005.
Case 2. Panasonic Corporation (Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.)
Updated February 28, 2006
Lifestyle Support Robot Making a public appeal for applications within the University
To identify the best collaborative research partner from among the more than 4000 researchers including professors, associate professors, assistant professors and senior researchers, we made a public appeal for applications for this project. The campaign—run on the Division of University Corporate Relations Web site and some other internal media—appealed for collaborative research project proposals including concepts, devices, information processing technology, and integrated technology for developing a lifestyle-support robot to help improve quality of life by responding to people and the environment. The research budget was 30 million to 50 million yen per project for a one to three year period for a maximum of five projects. After this initial announcement a briefing session was held on campus and faculty researchers from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology attended. To identify the best research proposals that matched the needs of the private enterprise, the University held four to seven meetings over four months debating the pros and cons of potential proposals for five projects. A consensus was reached to go with three projects related to sensor technology, manipulation technology and sensor fusion technology.
The overall budget for this collaborative research project was set at over 100 million yen and it started in August 2005.
Case 3. Ebara Corporation
Updated February 28, 2006
Futuristic General Circulatory Type Resource Utilization System
Proprius21 produced a research plan to establish principles for how things should be in 10 years time regarding a resource that is essential for human activity.
The circulatory resource in question was studied from the perspective of four fields of expertise: the Institute of Industrial Science, the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the School of Engineering and the Environment Science Center. Four young associate professors from the aforementioned departments participated in this project to cover all perspectives and optimize the topic for research. As a result of initial exploratory discussions, collaboration with other national universities was established, postdoctoral candidates were employed and an annual budget of 10 million yen for a three-year plan was set aside. The collaborative research started in October 2005. Proprius21 continued to run in parallel and other element technology developments were explored further. Future plans include revolutionizing the social system. The total budget for this project including government funds may be several hundred million yen.
Case 4. NEC Corporation
Updated February 28, 2006
Research about Social Interaction
A discussion was held about the possibilities of a collaborative research project to quantitatively evaluate how new services in society will affect the values and behavior of people in the future. A faculty researcher from the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology majoring in social psychology was appointed project leader and a plan for collaborative research was implemented. The research period was set at just over two years from January 2006 to March 2008. The University of Tokyo will mainly focus on systematizing a mathematical model for humans using psychoanalytic methods that consider communication. NEC Laboratories will focus primarily on systematizing service functions and constructing a receptivity evaluation simulation technology. The objective of this research is to establish a process to evaluate how changes in lifestyles and work styles provided by new services to society in the future will affect human values and behavior. It is hoped that this will establish guidelines for creating new services based on the next-generation information infrastructure for the supposed advent of a ubiquitous network society that will be accepted by our society. The University of Tokyo has researchers from the humanities department engaged in various types of research, and this opens up new possibilities of collaborative projects with manufacturers.
Case 5: Mizuho Information & Research Institute,Inc.
Updated February 28, 2006
Collaborative Research on Creating a System for the Proliferation of University Software to Both Society and Industry World
The University of Tokyo possesses a great deal of the most cutting-edge research results in the world (science technology simulation) in the form of software, but most of these are stored away, unused, upon completion of the research, making no contribution to society. Proprius21 examined and considered the uses for various software and concluded that for this research to be useful to society and industry, a system other than the patenting of technology is necessary. The objective of this project is to create a new cycle separate from the transfer of patented technology, to make software produced by university faculty researchers useful to society. The University of Tokyo and the Mizuho Information and Research Institute,Inc. will engage in collaborative research on this topic from April 2006 to March 2008, a period of just under three years. The research will be a collaboration by private enterprise, the University and a technology transfer organization. The scope of research will include research development, building a system for technology transfer, infrastructure maintenance, trial and testing, and evaluation for systemizing a technology transfer cycle that can function independently. In parallel to this research project, relationships with private enterprises that need cutting-edge software will be strengthened.
