Honda napove ustanovitev podjetja Ashirase, Inc., startupa, ki izvira iz IGNITION, Hondinega programa za ustvarjanje novega podjetja

TOKYO, Jun 11, 2021 – (JCN Newswire) – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced the establishment of Ashirase, Inc., the first business venture to originate from IGNITION, Honda’s new business creation program. Ashirase, Inc. is currently developing an in-shoe navigation system to support the visually impaired with walking and will strive to begin sales of the system, also named “Ashirase,” before the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.

Pregled navigacijskega sistema Ashirase

Ashirase je navigacijski sistem, sestavljen iz aplikacije za pametni telefon in tridimenzionalne vibracijske naprave, vključno s senzorjem gibanja, ki je pritrjen znotraj čevlja.

Glede na pot, nastavljeno z aplikacijo, naprava vibrira za zagotavljanje navigacije. Ko mora uporabnik iti naravnost, vibrator, nameščen na sprednjem delu stopala, zavibrira, in ko se uporabnik približuje desnemu ali levemu zavoju, vibrator na desni ali levi strani vibrira, da opozori uporabnika. Navigacija, ki jo ponuja Ashirase, omogoča intuitivno razumevanje poti, zato uporabniku ni treba nenehno paziti na smer, kar omogoča varnejšo in bolj sproščeno hojo.

Ključne značilnosti Ashirase
– Guidance information for the visually impaired user is generated based on GNSS(1) positioning information and data based on the user’s foot movement.
– Navigation is provided through vibration on the foot, so as not to interfere with the user?s hand which is holding a white cane, or ears used to listen to ambient sounds.
– Vibrators are located aligned with the nerve layer of the foot, making it easy to feel the vibration.
– Soft material that maintains its original shape is used for the device in order to limit any discomfort to the user.

Težave v zvezi s hojo slabovidnih
– In Japan, the number of people with visual impairment including low vision(2) was estimated to be 1.64 million as of 2007, and the number is forecast to increase to nearly 2 million by 2030(3).

Visually impaired people constantly check their safety and route to the destination when they walk alone. However, as they are required to use all remaining senses to acquire information to compensate for their limited sight, it is somewhat inevitable that they will be unable to pay thorough attention and face functional issues such as “getting lost” or “falling into unsafe situations.” Moreover, discovery sessions conducted by the development team with the visually impaired revealed that such functional issues lead to psychological issues, as indicated by comments such as:

“I feel frustrated when I remember the time when I was walking freely without vision problems.” (comment by a person with low vision)

“When I get lost, people around me sometimes do not respond when I try to talk to them. It is scary because I don?t know why they are not responding.” (comment by a person with late-onset total blindness).

With the concept of “navigation which enables safety and a relaxed state of mind for the visually impaired,” Ashriase is being developed as a product which helps the users reach their destinations safely and have a more independent lifestyle.

(1) GNSS je kratica za Global Navigation Satellite System, skupno ime za satelitske sisteme za določanje položaja, navigacijo in merjenje časa (PNT).
(2) The 2006-2008 report on the “social cost of visual impairments in Japan” published by a research team of the Japan Ophthalmologists Association defines “people with corrected vision of more than 0.1 (20/200 in the US system) and below 0.5 (20/40 in the US system) in their best-seeing eye.”
(3) Vir: Poročilo 2006-2008 o ?socialnih stroških motenj vida na Japonskem? objavila raziskovalna skupina Združenja japonskih oftalmologov. URL: https://www.gankaikai.or.jp/info/kenkyu/2006-2008kenkyu.pdf (samo v japonščini)

Komentar Wataruja China, predstavniškega direktorja Ashirase, Inc.
“An accident suffered by one of my family members motivated me to take action to realize safer and more free mobility for visually impaired people. I developed the Ashirase and applied to IGNITION, Honda?s new business creation program, which led to the establishment of Ashirase, Inc. I am sure that we will face many obstacles as we work toward the market launch of Ashirase; however, we will overcome such obstacles one by one and devote ourselves wholeheartedly to realize the freedom of mobility for visually impaired people.”

O programu za ustvarjanje novih podjetij IGNITION

Honda’s new business creation program which gives shapes to the original technologies, ideas and designs of Honda associates and contributes to solving social issues and creating new value for customers, going beyond existing Honda business.

Ključne značilnosti IGNITION

– All full-time Honda associates in Japan are eligible to submit proposals regardless of their length of employment and assigned divisions.
– Ideas that pass the final evaluation process will be commercialized within the company or through a startup venture.
– In principle, the decision on commercialization will be made within a 6-month period, during which a taskforce team consisting of internal specialists will be formed to support each proposer.
– The venture capital firm will provide advice and support to each proposer throughout the evaluation process.
– In order to ensure independence of the startup, the ratio of capital contribution by Honda will be limited to no more than 20%

Vir: https://www.jcnnewswire.com/pressrelease/67276/3/