The research using AI enhanced with statistical methods developed by Professor Takaaki Takahashi and Associate Professor Shonosuke Sugasawa of the Center for Spatial Information Science at the University of Tokyo, along with statistical data on human flow and various other data provided by SoftBank Corp. and JR Kyushu Group companies respectively, to provide highly accurate forecasts of the number of visitors and sales has started.

This research considers JR Hakata Station as a representative model of a growing city in Japan and uses AI (Artificial Intelligence) to identify factors that influence the number of visitors and sales at JR Hakata City, a large-scale commercial facility adjacent to JR Hakata Station, in order to make more accurate long-term forecasts. The goal of the research is to create attractive facilities for users by adapting the results of this research in various measures to improve users’ satisfaction and increase sales as well as contribute to promoting smart cities in other cities in Japan.

The full press release (in Japanese only) by Kyushu Railway Company, JR Kyushu Ekibiru Holdings, JR HAKATA CITY Co., Ltd., the University of Tokyo and SoftBank Corp is available as below (PDF).
https://beyondai.jp/contents/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/400208505.pdf

＜Related Links＞ ※ available in Japanese only
・Press Release at UTokyo Focus
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/ja/press/z1702_00033.htm
・Press Release at SoftBank
https://www.softbank.jp/corp/news/press/sbkk/2023/20230224_02/

The University of Tokyo and SoftBank Corp. (hereinafter referred to as SoftBank), in collaboration with Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to Odakyu Railway), began a new field experiment in December 2022 related to the Next-Generation AI Urban Simulator, expanding the target from a limited number of commercial facilities around Odakyu Ebina Station to cover the entire area around the Station.

“Next-Generation AI Urban Simulator” is one of the research themes promoted by the Institute for AI and Beyond under collaborative initiatives by the University of Tokyo and SoftBank, which have conducted the said research and development since April 2021, in collaboration with Odakyu Railway.

The field experiment aims to revitalize the livelihood and economy of the entire city by attracting more participants to local events, promoting purchasing activities, as well as improving efficiency of store operations based on the data acquired by “Next Generation AI Urban Simulator”. Furthermore, it is expected to solve urban issues such as reducing food loss and saving energy etc., to realize a sustainable urban environment.

Please see the following full press release (in Japanese only) (PDF).
https://beyondai.jp/contents/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/PR_Next-Generation-AI-Urban-Simulator-20230117.pdf

＜Related Links＞ ※ available in Japanese only
・Press Release at UTokyo Focus
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/ja/press/
・Press Release at SoftBank HP
https://www.softbank.jp/corp/news/press/sbkk/2023/20230117_01/
・Press Release at Odakyu Railway HP
https://www.odakyu.jp/company_information/

To the University of Tokyo faculty,

Beyond AI Joint Project with SoftBank aims to build an ecosystem for the social implementation and commercialization of research results through the Institute for AI and Beyond.
Currently, the Institute promotes mid-to-long-term (basic research) and “high-cycle” research (applied research), and we aim to contribute to the further development of AI research and a better society in Japan by establishing collaborative innovation partnerships (CIP) and companies to commercialize and implement the results of the “high-cycle” research in society.

To expedite our efforts, the Institute for AI and Beyond has decided to call for proposals for pre-“high-cycle” research/seeds for commercialization.
Accordingly, we eagerly await proposals from interested professors.

◇Overview of the pre-“high-cycle” research
Research period:　Generally, within 1 year (reported for each year even if crossing over academic years)
Research budget:　Direct costs within 10 million JPY
Application deadline:
Friday, December 23, 2022 (for the three topics listed below)
Friday, January 6, 2023 (for topics other than the three listed below)
Misc.: Acceptance/rejection will be determined based on consultation with the organization and coordination with relevant staff at SoftBank. In pre-“high-cycle” research, you are supposed to undertake a feasibility study aimed at shifting to “high-cycle” research and commercialization

※For more details please read the document in PDF linked as below;
https://beyondai.jp/contents/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/call-for-proposal_Pre-High-cycle-research_E-1.pdf

Please apply as per the instructions mentioned on the above document in PDF by sending the necessary information via "Contact" on our website linked as below;
https://beyondai.jp/contents/contact/?lang=en

Please send any queries you may have regarding the invitation for proposals to the following address:
bai.kenkyushien.adm[at]gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Please change [at] to @
(Research Support Team at the Institute for AI and Beyond)

SoftBank Corp. (hereinafter referred to SoftBank) and the University of Tokyo will collaboratively implement an educational program aiming to train next-generation AI talents who can work globally, targeted for students of the University of Tokyo between 1st February and 1st March, 2023.
The program is part of the efforts by the Institute for AI and Beyond of the University of Tokyo to give opportunities for students to learn about AI and data applications. The program’s aim is also to provide them experience in the front lines of business in a practical way through data hackathons experiences, study groups activities, social events, and global internships etc.
The overall planning and operation of the program will be run by SoftBank, leveraging its own resources and know-hows through Axross Recipe Biz, which usually provides services to businesses, as well as through collaboration with Findability Sciences Inc., an investee of SoftBank.

Registration for participation is scheduled to open on 2nd December on the UTokyo website. For details, please refer to the Press Release from the SoftBank as linked below.
Note that the educational program will be in Japanese.

＜Related Links＞ ※ available in Japanese only
・Press Release by SoftBank
https://beyondai.jp/contents/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Press-Release_SB_UTokyo-educational-program-for-New-generation-AI-talents_J.pdf
・Article at SoftBank HP
https://www.softbank.jp/corp/news/press/sbkk/2022/20221121_01/
・Web page for registration at UTokyo
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/students/special-activities/ugip.html
・Axross-Recipe
https://axross-recipe.com/
・Findability Sciences Inc.
https://findabilitysciences.co.jp/

It was announced on November 10, 2022, that Professor Eiji SAITOH of the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, was selected as the awardee of the Nishina Memorial Prize for 2022 for his achievements on “Pioneering contribution to the physics of spin current”. The award ceremony will be held on December 6.

The Nishina Memorial Prize has been awarded to physicists for their outstanding achievements in the field of basic and applied physics every year since its establishment in 1955.

Prof. Saitoh gave the following comment on his selection, “This award recognizes the development of basic physics of spin current. In my group, we are currently developing spin current physics further and entering new research areas of quantum device physics and quantum AI. With this award as an encouragement, we will continue to contribute to the further development of science and technology.”

Prof. Saitoh is the project leader of the Basic research project (Integrating Physics and AI) entitled “Analysis of materials’ quantum properties using AI (Quantum ID: Exploiting “Quantum Fingerprintings” of materials with AI)” at the Institute for AI and Beyond.

・Nishina Memorial Foundation HP
https://www.nishina-mf.or.jp/en
・Press release announcing the winners (PDF）(Japanese only)
https://www.nishina-mf.or.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022NMPj.pdf
・Prof. Saitoh's Project page
https://beyondai.jp/contents/projects/saitoh/?lang=en
・Saitoh lab. Profile page
https://saitoh.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/member/saitoh.html

Professor Yuko Itatsu, Professor Yujin Yaguchi, and Associate Professor Ai Hisano participated in the Global University Summit for the Rome Call for AI Ethics held on October 26 and 27, 2022, on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.
Profs. Itatsu, Yaguchi and Hisano belong to the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies at the University of Tokyo and are members of the Mid- and Long-term Research Project " B’AI Global Forum: Research on norms, ethics and praxis for a truly gender equal society and a guarantee of rights for minorities in the AI age ".

The summit featured presentations of the latest research, keynote speeches, panel discussions, and networking events aimed at examining the role of universities through research, education, and policy in developing ethical approaches to artificial intelligence (AI).
Professor Yaguchi was invited to talk at the panel discussion of the Session 3 on the 26th, representing the Institute for AI and Beyond, while Professor Itatsu and Associate Professor Hisano shared a poster presentation highlighting the approaches of both the B’AI Global Forum and the Institute for AI and Beyond.

＜Related Links＞
・Global University Summit for the Rome Call for AI Ethics
https://techethicslab.nd.edu/news-and-events/rome-call-for-ai-ethics-a-global-university-summit/
・Rome Call for AI Ethics
https://www.romecall.org/
・B'AI Global Forum HP
https://baiforum.jp/en/

Project Professor Yukie NAGAI of the university’s International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN) was awarded the “Women in Robotics Engineering and Science (WiRES)” at IROS 2022 (The 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems), one of the largest and most influential research conferences in robotics in the world, for her contributions in cognitive developmental robotics and robot learning research. She was invited to give a talk in a special session dedicated to WiRES awardees with four other renowned women researchers on October 25 at IROS.

Professor Nagai has also been named one of the 50 most prominent women in robotics in the world by the journal, Analytics Insight, in June 2020.

Professor Nagai is the project leader of the Basic research project (AI and Society) entitled "AI x Tojisha-Kenkyu: Computational Neuroscience for Systematic Understanding of Cognitive Individuality” at the Institute for AI and Beyond of the University of Tokyo.

・IROS Kyoto 2022 HP
https://iros2022.org/
https://iros2022.org/program/iros-35th-anniversary-forum/
・Analytics Insight
https://www.analyticsinsight.net/analytics-insight-names-worlds-50-most-renowned-women-in-robotics/
・Dr. Nagai’s profile page
https://developmental-robotics.jp/en/members/yukie_nagai/

Dr. Nagai becomes one of 35 women to be honored with a 2022 Women in Robotics Engineering and Science Award.

The 6th and 7th Beyond AI Science Café movies uploaded at YouTube was covered as an CLOSE UP article at “topics” page in the "Daigaku Koho- Campus Magazine” (August, 2022, No. 1561), UTokyo.

Japanese Only :
The University of Tokyo "University Press" August 2022, NO.1561 (2022.8.31)
The "Daigaku Koho- Campus Magazine” (August 2022, No. 1561 on August 31, 2022), UTokyo
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/about/public-relations/kouhou.html

Associate Professor Yoshiho IKEUCHI of the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS) of the University of Tokyo gave a lecture from the UTokyo New York Office, along with Teruo FUJII, President of the University of Tokyo who joined the event online, and other invited speakers at UTokyo-IIS Seminar “Delivering the Vision – Closing the gap between academic research and society” held in a hybrid format on June 13, 2022, New York time.　

Associate Professor Ikeuchi is the research leader of the basic research project “Understanding human brain through constructing organoid circuit tissues” at the Institute for AI and Beyond.

For detail about the seminar, refer to the following URL:
https://www.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/news/3871/

UTokyo-IIS Bulletin Vol.10 covering the event published on September 1, 2022 :
https://issuu.com/utokyo-iis/docs/utokyo-iis_bulletin_vol10_web_220831/6

The Institute for AI and Beyond mourns the loss of Dr. Sadaoki FURUI, Professor Emeritus at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Chief Research Director at National Institute of Informatics (NII), former President and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTIC), and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Institute for AI and Beyond since 2020, who passed away on 31 July 2022.

Dr. Furui was a pioneer and a leader in the field of computerized speech recognition and has made a wide range of contributions throughout his distinguished carrier, not only to academic research and education in information technology related to artificial intelligence but also to society at large. As a result, he received numerous awards and honors such as the Science and Technology Agency's Director-General's Award, Cultural Achievement Award, “Medal with Purple Ribbon”, and the IEEE James L. Flanagan Speech and Audio Processing Award to mention a few. He has also shown his dedication to the field by serving on various academic committees and organizations in Japan and abroad including the Acoustical Society of Japan, the IEEE and International Speech Communication Association.

We were extremely grateful for his contribution and generous support to our organization as the institute’s first chair of the International Advisory Board and his effort in the creation of the board itself. With his operational knowledge at an international research university in the US as well as his network of contacts at other top research institutions, research communities and prominent researchers in the field of AI at home and elsewhere, he kept giving sound advice to our management team on the prospects and international strategy of the institute. His timely and thoughtful advices to the researchers of the institute on their research projects have greatly been appreciated, not to mentioned that he was the frequent questioner and a thought-provoking advisor at the research seminars held regularly within the institute.

With the respect and thankfulness for his outstanding accomplishments to artificial intelligence research and education, the Institute for AI and Beyond of the University of Tokyo extends its deepest condolences to his family, his colleagues, and all who cherished their lives by knowing Dr. Furui.

Masami HAGIYA, Ph. D.
Director, Institute for AI and Beyond