Let's Go to the Field

2020/01/24

I am always conducting joint research with various companies. In addition to collaborating with companies in my own field of IT and communications, I often conduct joint research with industries in different fields. For example, I work with companies in fields such as architecture, civil engineering, transportation, and machinery. Discussing things with people from different industries is very enjoyable because it allows me to learn about unknown worlds; however, joint research requires proposing new solutions or inventing technologies for specific problems. To achieve this, I make an effort to visit the actual sites where problems occur and experience them firsthand. By visiting the site, experiencing the environment, and listening to various stories from the people involved, I can understand what the problem is through all five senses.

For example, I am conducting joint research with a company in the construction industry to automate part of the construction process using IT technology, and I first visited a construction site to understand the current situation. I wore the same helmet as the workers and walked on dangerous scaffolding; by experiencing this, I was able to understand the true constraints, allowing me to propose IT technologies that are feasible under those conditions. This is something that is difficult to understand just by reading documents. Additionally, in joint research with a company in the railway transportation industry, we are researching high-speed free-space optical communication between trains and the ground, and I once walked along the tracks with those involved during the late-night hours when trains were not running. By walking, I could see various facilities along the tracks with my own eyes and learn about detailed constraints, which led to more realistic proposals.

Simply listening to the stories of those involved is often very helpful in identifying problems. For example, when I conducted joint research with a company on a navigation system for the visually impaired, I directly asked people with disabilities what kind of difficulties they faced. What I learned there was full of surprises for me as a sighted person—such as how visually impaired people have to find the toilet by touch, or how those who can perceive even a tiny bit of light from streetlamps at night rely on that light to walk—but knowing these difficulties allowed me to propose a new IT system.

In future joint research with different industries, I intend to continue making efforts to visit the sites, experience them with my five senses, and empathize with the people involved.