What is the Shimpo Project on Cybernetic Avatars? | Fumio Shimpo, Professor and Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management

In the SFC News on April 10, 2025, an article titled "SFC's cutting-edge research to be featured at EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan!" announced that as one of the advanced research projects by SFC faculty at EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, held in Yumeshima, Osaka, "the ‘CA Mark’ developed by the Shimpo Project will be affixed to pavilion exhibition robots, and the mechanism for CA conformity assessment will be unveiled." I have received questions about what "CA" and the "CA Mark" are, so I would like to provide an explanation.   

"CA" is an abbreviation for "Cybernetic Avatar (Registered Trademark No. 6523764)." The term "avatar" has become widely used since director James Cameron released the movie "Avatar" in 2009. Its origin is the Sanskrit word *avatāra* (a manifestation of a deity). I believe many are familiar with avatars, as they are used in online games and other contexts.

On the other hand, the term "Cybernetic Avatar" may be less familiar. It is "a general term for systems that expand human capabilities using multiple avatars" and "a concept that includes information and robot technologies that expand a person's physical, cognitive, and perceptual abilities through avatars such as robots or 3D images that act as one's alter ego."

This research is being conducted as part of the Moonshot Research and Development Program promoted by the Cabinet Office, under the program "Realization of a society in which people are free from the constraints of body, brain, space, and time by 2050." I, Shimpo, am overseeing the "Realization of a Society Where Avatars Can Be Used Safely and with Confidence" project within this program as the project manager.   

In this research project, we have adopted a multifaceted research approach called "E³LSI (Ethical, Economic, Environmental, Legal, and Social Issues)—read as 'E-cubed LSI' (Registered Trademark No. 6803372)"—to address the issues that must be considered to create an environment where CAs can be used safely in society. What was unveiled at the Expo are the research results related to "Construction of an E³LSI Research Platform and Establishment and Operation of a CA Conformity Assessment System," which is one of the 11 research and development themes of this project.   

The "CA Mark," which was introduced in the SFC public relations article, is a certification mark granted to CAs that have been certified based on the CA certification system. While the CA certification "system" itself is invisible, the CA Mark is its visualization in the form of a "mark."

The "CA Conformity Assessment System" is a mechanism that establishes standards (multifaceted evaluation indicators such as security requirements, privacy protection, and operability) to objectively evaluate the safety and reliability of CAs, and then evaluates and certifies CAs based on those standards. This system aims to realize a safe and reliable CA society by preventing operator impersonation, CA hijacking, and the illicit acquisition of technical information.

By affixing this CA Mark to the exhibition robots at the Hiroshi Ishiguro Signature Pavilion "Future of Life" at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, we widely publicized this CA Conformity Assessment System.   

The CA Mark is not merely a certification mark in the form of an image; it is the culmination of cutting-edge technological development. This mark incorporates advanced anti-counterfeiting technologies comparable to those used in passports and currency. Centered on digital watermarking technology, it has a multi-layered security structure that prevents counterfeiting from both physical and digital aspects. This technology not only allows for high-precision verification of the mark's authenticity but also effectively prevents attempts at unauthorized duplication or imitation.

The security elements embedded in the mark include: ① advanced digital watermarking (containing embedded information invisible to the naked eye, which can be read by a smartphone app to verify authenticity and check registration information), ② microtext (embedding extremely small text information, achieving a level of precision impossible to reproduce with standard copiers), ③ special ink technology (hidden patterns visible only under specific optical conditions), and ④ holographic elements (three-dimensional visual effects that are difficult to counterfeit).

A noteworthy feature of the CA Mark is the fusion of physical anti-counterfeiting elements and a digital authentication system. The digital watermark embedded in the mark allows users to check the registration and management information of the certified CA by reading it with a smartphone app. By enabling real-time authenticity verification, the CA Mark functions not as a static display of certification but as a dynamic security system that guarantees the safety and reliability of the CA.

At the Expo, an attempt is being made to widely publicize this CA conformity assessment mechanism by affixing the CA Mark to the exhibition robots in the pavilion. We have released an introductory video on YouTube explaining how the CA Mark functions, so please be sure to watch it.

The existence of the CA Mark, which utilizes such advanced security technologies, is considered an essential element in forming the foundation of trust for a CA society. By checking this mark, users can easily determine that the CA is a trustworthy one that complies with safety and certification standards. This is expected to accelerate the spread and social implementation of CAs, contributing significantly to the realization of "a society in which people are free from the constraints of body, brain, space, and time," the goal of the Moonshot Research and Development Program.

The Shimpo Project is building a research platform for a wide range of issues related to CAs (E³LSI issues) and is proposing and developing a conformity assessment system for the social implementation of CAs. The presentation of our results at the Expo provides a valuable opportunity to share a part of this research widely with the public.   

It is expected that by 2050, a society where CAs are used as a matter of course will arrive (and I hope it does). Looking ahead to that era, the major mission of this research is to advance the necessary institutional design and technological development from now. The "CA Mark" is one of the outcomes of this effort and will contribute to ensuring safety, security, and trust in future society.

The term "E³LSI issues" may not feel tangible, so I think you can gain a better understanding of the problems by rereading past "Okashira Nikki" (Dean's Diary) entries.   

In the spring semester of 2022, as we were transitioning back to in-person classes from the online-centric environment of the COVID-19 pandemic, I raised the question of whether attending a lecture via an avatar would be considered attendance in an "in-person class" in the article "Is a Lecture via Avatar an In-person Class? | Fumio Shimpo, Professor and Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management (2022.06.14 Okashira Nikki)". Based on Article 32, Paragraph 5 of the Standards for Establishment of Universities, the upper limit for credits from "remote (online) classes" that can be included in the 124 credits required for graduation in an undergraduate program is set not to exceed 60 credits. Therefore, if attendance via a remotely operated avatar is treated as "remote," students who continue to participate in lectures via avatar face a situation where it becomes difficult to earn the credits necessary for graduation.   

In this way, as CAs become more integrated into daily life, various institutional issues emerge. The issue of attendance and credit recognition for lectures via avatar is just one such problem, but it is through such concrete examples that we are examining the E³LSI issues that accompany the spread of CAs.   

Through the public presentation of our research results at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, we are broadly demonstrating SFC's cutting-edge research and the potential for its outcomes to contribute to society. We intend to continue leveraging SFC's excellent research environment to promote innovative research toward the realization of a CA society.

*Portrait photo (Top Page) by photographer Kikuko Uzuyama