Japanese startup aims to stem rural exodus with technology
As Japan's population continues to concentrate in greater Tokyo, one startup thinks it has parts of a solution for all the hometowns being abandoned by young people, telepresence.
The technology to fuse together two rooms in two locations anywhere in the world already exists, but it often fails to go beyond underwhelming conference systems. What Tonari, which means neighbor in Japanese, wants to do is bring down costs for commercial versions of wall-size portals, create a profitable business and use some of the proceeds to fund a nonprofit that will help Japan deal with the hollowing out of its rural communities.
Tonari's developers say their product, which goes by the same name, will make users feel like the rooms they are in have been fused into one. Installations will allow for entire walls to disappear, with high video and audio quality enhancing the illusion that two places have become a single space. The Tonari system will also allow for shared digital whiteboards, notification systems and collaboration tools.
Perhaps Tonari can make life in greater Tokyo itself a little easier, too. Over half of the metropolitan area's inhabitants commute more than two hours a day. The spread of telepresence suites could give them back those hours.
The startup is banking on the fact that large screens, 4K ultrahigh-definition projectors, cameras and other pieces of hardware are becoming cheaper and more available. Tonari is also benefiting from large investments in artificial intelligence and deep learning, which will help the company's system recognize people and faces and objects.
The company got on its feet in April, 2017. By the end of the same year, the team behind it was awarded a grant from the Nippon Foundation, a private NPO with a social mission. The grant, a result of winning the Social Innovator Excellence Award, pays Tonari 50 million yen ($450,000) per year for three consecutive years.
See the full story here: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Startups/Japanese-startup-aims-to-stem-rural-exodus-with-technology