2023-07-31 12:51:53
Tokyo A small living room in northern Tokyo furnished with a dining table with four chairs and a sofa in front of a wooden wall. A short command and the room gets ready for the night: the curtains draw, the light gets darker, the supposed wooden wall pushes forward, the dining room shrinks and it becomes a double bed, one half of which was the sofa before.
Japan is giving new meaning to the word smart home. Instead of just networking heaters, refrigerators and air conditioning systems in a smart home, Japanese researchers and entrepreneurs are also developing cleaning robots, intelligent toilets and autonomous furniture. And so the Tokyo living room is not only equipped with furniture, but also with hidden cameras and sensors for movement, light, temperature and air pressure.
This room was recently on the itinerary of Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) to Japan. With its smart apartments, the East Asian country is a role model for Germany.
Both Japan and Germany are faced with an aging population. However, Japan is much further ahead when it comes to smart living: The Japanese population has been shrinking since 2009. Awareness of the problem is correspondingly high, says Ken Sakamura, director of the Institute for Academic-Industrial Cooperation (INIAD) at Toyo University.
Humanoid Roboter
Will robots soon clean up our homes? In Japan, this dream is getting closer.
(Photo: dpa)
For example, the apartment visited by Geywitz is part of the โOpen Smart URโ project of the state housing company UR in the โNouvelle Akabane-daiโ housing estate. There, Japan’s largest property developer is developing and testing ideas for flexible living in aging societies together with Toyo University.
On the one hand, this involves designing apartments in such a way that they can be easily adapted to the needs of single people, families and senior citizens. On the other hand, the use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) should support older people in particular.
AI should support seniors in their homes
One feature is emergency detection. The apartments, which are equipped with sensors and intelligent air conditioning systems, can record the state of health of the residents and call the emergency services if necessary.
Institute director Sakamura explains the background of the project as follows: โIn a future with falling birth rates and an aging population, a system is needed in which not only young people, but also robots, artificial intelligence and other various ‘hands’ support the lives of older people. The goal is to build a housing-as-a-service platform business, which Sakamura says could spread from 2030 onwards.
Homeowners would not only rent out the apartment, but also offer additional fee-based services such as emergency detection. In addition, the residents could order food, the cleaning service and taxis via a domestic control center.
Sakamura is also thinking about further health services – and that in connection with the toilets in the apartments.
The toilets of the big Japanese manufacturers Panasonic, Toto and Lixil already resemble robots. Sensors register when a user approaches, raise the lid, heat the seat, flush and close the lid again after using the toilet. Manufacturers are now testing toilets in laboratories that can analyze the bowel movements or even the weight and fat percentage of their users and transmit the data to doctors.
Sakamura also wants to use data from advanced air conditioning systems. These can use heat sensors to detect where residents are and then direct the warm or cool airflow directly at people. Some products “learn” about the everyday life of the residents in order to optimize power consumption.
Furniture is also becoming smart in Japan
The new living concepts are promising. Mika Kasamatsu, a researcher at the national online housing platform Suumo, is already observing a trend towards โminimal livingโ. There used to be a demand for single-family houses that offered enough rooms and space from marriage through children to old age.
>> Read here: Why companies from Ikea to Apple are working together on smart homes
Now, depending on their phase of life, people are increasingly looking for new living space that is optimal for this phase. Kasamatsu expects increased demand for small, one-story houses around 70 square meters, which can be adapted to the respective living situation with little investment.
But it’s not just Japan’s apartments that are becoming smart, furniture is too. The AI โโunicorn Preferred Networks is taking the first step in this direction. This year, robotic unit Preferred Robotics launched its first autonomous piece of furniture.
cleaning robot
Complex robots that perform many functions are probably still unaffordable for the average consumer.
(Foto:ย Kyodo News/Getty Images)
Kachaka (pronounced: ka-cha-ka) is the name of the system, whose first product consists of two parts: a shelf on wheels and a small, flat, box-shaped platform with cameras and sensors that looks similar to a vacuum cleaner robot. This can move autonomously in space and create different shelves on command.
>> Read here: The Japanese Retiree Miracle – Working without Retirement Age
The company presented a cleaning robot five years ago. However, Toru Isobe, head of Preferred Robotics, considers the autonomous piece of furniture to be more suitable for the masses. On the one hand, the trend towards flexible, adaptable apartments and on the other hand the state of the art played a role in the decision, he told the Handelsblatt.
Complex robots that perform many functions are still unaffordable for the average consumer, Isobe explains. “In this respect, intelligent furniture is more marketable.” The robot currently costs around 1500 euros, the autonomous shelves between 160 and 200 euros depending on their size.
Isobe’s overarching goal is to build a “Smart Furniture Platform” that will earn the manufacturer additional monthly fees. At Kachaka, it’s about seven euros a month for the control app. Now it remains to be seen whether people will also accept this payment model for intelligent living.
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