Tokyo, Japan, March 2, 2023 – The “NEC Beyond 5G Research Alliance Laboratories," established by Osaka University and NEC Corporation (NEC), is to conduct demonstrations using the “Living Lab" method at Shibahara Mokamezon, an elderly care facility in Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. This demonstration is beginning in March 2023 and represents the first implementation of research and development results from NEC Beyond 5G Research Alliance Laboratories' efforts to solve social issues.

Conventionally, efforts to improve nursing care environments often focus on reducing the physical workload of caregivers. NEC Beyond 5G Research Alliance Laboratories aims to further support nursing care using Digital Twins, virtual models of physical objects, to understand and predict the state of mind of individuals and to create opportunities for more efficient care.

This demonstration will collect a wide range of environmental data, such as temperature and atmosphere pressure, a care recipient's temperature, heart rate, changes in facial expressions and conversation content. Based on the collected data, the relationship between environmental changes and comfort will be analyzed, and effective adjustments will be made in the real world, such as predicting changes in the emotion of a care recipient, then making adjustments to maintain their comfort. In addition, the demonstration is seeking to reduce the emotional stress of caregivers and care recipients by combining real and digital technologies, such as the use of a weak robot, which like a pet, coexists with care recipients and inspires such feelings as happiness and well-being. Furthermore, from fiscal 2024, the “Probabilistic Digital Twins" (*) proposed by NEC Beyond 5G Research Alliance Laboratories will be used to further improve the recognition of objects and predictions for the future.

Osaka University contributions:

NEC contributions:

As part of this demonstration, the Area of Architectural and Urban Planning of the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, and Gerontological and Geriatric Nursing Research Unit of the university's Graduate School of Medicine will work together with the Japan Montessori Care Association to provide services for elderly care facilities. Moreover, the Living Lab, which places research and development close to people's living spaces to create new services and products from the viewpoint of the residents, will be helping to expand the reach and application of digital technologies.

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