Osaka University will open a new base, Osaka University, on the second floor of the North Block rental building of JAM BASE, the main functional facility of Grand Green Osaka, scheduled to open in September 2024 as part of the Umekita phase. 2 development project. We will set up a future university hive of emergence. Currently, the Osaka University base is located in a section of Grand Front Osaka's main facility, Knowledge Capital, and is used to exhibit research results and conduct demonstration experiments. Grand Green Osaka has an even broader base, with Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of the Graduate School of Engineering Science (JST Moonshot R&D project leader) and Professor Shigeru Kitazawa of the Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences (Centre for Brain Information and Communication Fusion (CiNet)) It will serve as a satellite laboratory for three projects led by Professor Yasushi Yagi of the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (director of the Life Design Innovation Research Center (Project Society 5.0)).
Grand Front Osaka opened in 2013 as a pre-development area for the ongoing large-scale mixed-use development project “Project Umekita” in front of Osaka Station. Next, the Umekita Phase 2 “Grand Green Osaka” development project is scheduled to open in September 2024.
Osaka University will set up a nearly 600 square meter facility called “Osaka University Future Development Hive” in Grand Green Osaka's main functional facility “JAM BASE”, which will be used as a satellite laboratory for three projects.
■Search “from university to city”
Globally, the field of research extends from universities to the general public. By expanding the scope of our research to include a variety of people living in the real world and using the diverse insights we receive from visitors, we will be able to advance the social implementation of research findings from a perspective more realistic.
This new base, a “hive of future development of Osaka University”, will take advantage of the fact that the city is a place where people from different stages of life gather, and will conduct social experiments and field work to each research project, such as conducting demonstration experiments and collecting ideas from visitors. We plan to use it for this purpose.
Additionally, visitors can deepen their understanding of future technologies such as avatars and CiNet Brain, an artificial brain with a human mind, and learn about future mind and body monitoring services. Our goal is to return the results of our research to city dwellers. by allowing them to interact with it.
The name and representative of each project, as well as the center's activities and research outline, are presented below.
(1. Realization of a symbiotic avatar society where everyone can play an active role.)
・Representative: Hiroshi Ishiguro (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering Sciences)
We will have a permanent robot avatar/CG avatar experiment room and a remote work cabin, allowing visitors to experience the research and practical possibilities of avatars. Additionally, we envision a future in which all people, including the elderly and disabled, can live comfortably while developing their abilities through avatars, and we plan to exhibit scenes of homes and hospitals of the future society.
(2. Urban development using brain information)
・Representative: Shigeru Kitazawa (Brain Information and Communication Fusion Research Center (CiNet), Director of the Research Center)
As a co-creation basis for brain information and communication research conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (NICT), it is used to display results research, measure brain information, freely exchange industry, government and academic researchers, and foster next-generation human resources. It will serve as a basis for disseminating useful information and for activities such as trade fairs and mini symposia.
(3. A future created by the use of personal data)
・Representative: Yasushi Yagi (Professor, Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research)
A future society in which we can learn about our mental and physical health, as well as our social health through connections between people, is upon us, simply by observing our daily lives. The essential technology for such a future society lies not in data from medical care or health exams, but in technology that can predict health from personal data generated in daily life, such as facial expressions, gestures and conversations. At Umekita, we will use the personal data of those who have been monitored with their consent to advance the research and development of a variety of future health monitoring technologies.
■About the Umekita Phase 2 “Grand Green Osaka” development project
Three zones were created: a lush urban park directly connected to JR Osaka Station, the South Block, which meets a wide range of needs from business to tourism, and the North Block, which realizes innovative living designs .
During the preliminary opening in September 2024, hotels, basic functional facilities, commercial facilities and part of the urban park in the North Block will open, and offices, hotels, basic functional facilities and commercial facilities in the North Block will open. south block will open around spring. 2025. With the opening, the rental building will be fully operational. The entire park is expected to open around spring 2027.
●Reference – linked websites etc.
・Forbes JAPAN BrandVoice – Article featuring Osaka University's expansion into the Umekita area
https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/64911
・Great Green Osaka
https://umekita2.jp/
・JAM BASE
https://jam-base.com/jp/
·Osaka University
https://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/ja
・AVATAR SYMBIOTIC SOCIETY
https://avatar-ss.org/index.html
・Brain Information and Communication Fusion Research Center
https://cinet.jp/japanese/
・Life Design Innovation Research Center
https://www.ids.osaka-u.ac.jp/ildi/index.html
●Contact information regarding this topic
Research Planning Division, Department of Research Promotion, Osaka University
TEL: 06-6879-4848 FAX: 06-6879-7039
Email: search-support@office.osaka-u.ac.jp
(Source of press release)University Press Center https://www.u-presscenter.jp/