Incorporating the voices of those directly involved into the design process: A challenge to inclusive design that connects the group's technology to support those in need.

In recent years, JVCKENWOOD Design has been promoting projects that implement an inclusive design process, incorporating the voices of people facing various challenges into product development. Three members of the company who are working on inclusive design discussed the trial-and-error process of challenging themselves in new areas of design while applying the communication, video, and audio technologies that the JVCKENWOOD Group has cultivated.
(Left: Sasaki, Center: Suzuki, Right: Ura)

The technological capabilities that the group has cultivated will be used to eliminate barriers in society.

Could you tell us about the circumstances that led to JVC Kenwood Design starting its efforts in inclusive design?

Pu　It all started three years ago when I began researching and developing an application to support people with dyslexia*, a type of learning disability. Initially, it was just a solo project, but I increased the number of members during the "DESIGN MIRAI" exhibition, which we hold annually within the company, and it officially became a project of JVC Kenwood Design.

Company holds internal exhibition "DESIGN MIRAI 2025" | NEWS |

In the first year, we created a proof-of-concept (PoC), and from the second year onwards, we collaborated with a tutoring school for children with dyslexia and conducted user interviews with those directly affected. We are currently continuing research and development to complete the app.

*Dyslexia... A type of learning disability that causes difficulty in reading and writing.

What initially sparked your interest in supporting people with learning disabilities, Ms. Ura?

Pu　Because my own child has dyslexia, I had been researching various public support options for some time. Through that research, I learned about examples of support using electronic devices such as earphones, and I began to think that our company could also do something similar. Up until now, the JVC Kenwood Group has provided product lines utilizing three technologies: communication, video, and audio. These are all related to "speaking, seeing, and listening," and I thought that by applying the technologies used in our products, we could connect them to support for people with cognitive difficulties.

For example, the JVC Kenwood Group offers earmuffs and earplugs as part of its product lineup, and in recent years, noise-canceling earphones have become popular among people with hypersensitivity to sound as a noise reduction tool. In the future, we would like to further expand this area of ​​"solving users' problems" using DX and AI, and in an application currently under research and development, we aim to create a tool that visualizes the difficulties children face with reading and writing, utilizing the speech recognition technology already used in the group's products.

JVC Kenwood Design has been actively working on universal design. Since joining this initiative, Ms. Suzuki and Ms. Sasaki, what differences have you noticed between universal design and inclusive design, and what are your impressions of the characteristics of inclusive design as you work on these projects?


(I.e.　I believe universal design is an approach that aims to design things in a way that is easy for as many people as possible to use from the start. On the other hand, inclusive design is an approach that starts with people who have difficulties and proceeds with the design process together with those people. It is often said that a characteristic of inclusive design is that it takes into account not only physical difficulties but also factors such as the situation, perception, and feelings of the person. I feel that by going through this process, it can ultimately lead to universal design.

I joined the project and immediately accompanied the team on user testing and interviews. At first, I didn't have much knowledge about inclusive design, so I relied heavily on Mr. Ura to guide me. However, I had experience as a student in an internship where I walked around a local town and interviewed local people about issues I discovered, so I'm very excited to be involved in a project that is also centered around "people."

Hiroshige　Although I haven't yet been able to participate in processes such as user testing, I took charge of exhibiting at the 2025 Japan LD* Society conference in order to focus on outreach activities. We exhibited a prototype of the "AI earphones with camera" that we announced at last year's "CEATEC 2025," and a prototype of the "simple learning characteristics check app (tentative name)" that we are currently researching and developing. We received a very positive response, and many people asked us questions about how to use them.

It was impressive to hear those kinds of comments, but what was also good was learning from people in the education field that there are various challenges in the education field, not just in supporting children who are struggling, but also in areas such as staff shortages and the lack of experienced teachers. It was an experience that motivated me to realize that there is still so much more that can be done.

*LD...Learning Disorders

Report on Exhibits at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Learning Disabilities | NEWS |

Identifying children's reading and writing difficulties and connecting them with support services.

Could you tell me more about the "AI earphones with a camera" that you mentioned earlier?

Pu　This was presented as a prototype at CEATEC 2025 last year. While it was being developed for professional use and as an assistive device for the visually impaired, JVC Kenwood Design proposed its use in the field of educational digital transformation (DX). Since it can read textbooks aloud when worn on the ears like earphones, we believe it could be useful in supporting children who have difficulty reading and writing. If it can be connected to learning tablets and devices, various developments are possible. It's a truly JVC Kenwood-esque product that integrates "speaking, seeing, and listening," so we would love to implement it in society using inclusive design methods.

AI earphones with camera | JVCKENWOOD Corporation

Similarly, please tell us about the apps you are currently researching and developing.

(I.e.　This application visualizes a child's reading and writing proficiency, aiming to provide teachers and parents with an opportunity to consider whether a child needs support. Currently, it can take up to six months before a child can actually receive a diagnosis of learning disabilities or other conditions at a hospital. Therefore, we are working with collaborating teachers to explore ways to replace the currently analog tests and results with digital ones.

Pu　We are collaborating with a university professor who specializes in dyslexia research, a doctor who previously worked in rehabilitation at a university hospital and is now an entrepreneur, and a teacher from a tutoring school specializing in dyslexia. We aim for something practical and highly accurate, different from medical diagnoses, and we want to make visible the level of difficulty that children who struggle with reading and writing face.

Learning disabilities are difficult to detect, and even in cases of severe symptoms, they are often overlooked by parents and schools, who may simply perceive the child as someone who struggles with academics. Through this app, we hope to create an opportunity for children to receive support before their reading and writing difficulties become apparent.

To take the first step towards inclusive design

For the 2025 DESIGN MIRAI program, we distributed a leaflet titled "Inclusive Design for Everyone." What was the process behind its creation?

(I.e.　As our initiative enters its third year, in order to increase the number of inclusive design case studies, we need to raise awareness not only within JVCKENWOOD Design but also throughout the JVCKENWOOD Group. To begin with, we created this leaflet for DESIGN MIRAI, an event attended by employees of the group, to help people understand what inclusive design is.

The first page, which begins with the heading "What kind of people are there?", depicts people in various places such as schools, offices, parks, and cafes. If you look closely at the speech bubbles, you'll notice that there are people who don't seem to have any problems at first glance, such as people who are sensitive to loud noises or people who have trouble concentrating. This structure is meant to provoke a question in which some people who pick up the leaflet might think, "Maybe this applies to me too."

Hiroshige　We've had people who actually saw it say things like, "Actually, I feel the same way." I think we were able to create a space where dialogue could start thanks to the leaflet.

(I.e.　We created this leaflet with the intention of encouraging everyone to think together about this issue, and we hope that it will be the first step in our collaboration with people from various departments in the future. We also think it's important that the booklet concludes with a discussion of the potential of inclusive design as a management strategy, as defined by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Pu　It was created based on "Inclusive Design as a Management Strategy - Towards a Good Company, a Strong Business," published by the Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, and it seems that this aspect particularly resonated with the group's employees. We also received positive results in the visitor vote at DESIGN MIRAI.

"Inclusive Design as a Management Strategy" (METI/Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)

Finally, please tell us what you would like to continue working on as part of your inclusive design activities in the future.

(I.e.　Since we started working on raising awareness within the group, I feel that I have come to realize the importance of inclusive design more deeply. With DESIGN MIRAI as a starting point, awareness within the company is spreading, so I would like to continue learning myself and plan more workshops in the future, involving people from various professions involved in product creation, such as planning and engineering, in order to take the penetration of inclusive design into the group one step further.

Hiroshige　I believe the appeal of inclusive design lies in the potential for discovering alternative uses for a product during the process, and for new ideas and innovations to emerge from that. We hope that workshops will increase dialogue among employees within the company, leading to a greater drive for creating new products and services and improving added value.

Pu　I believe the ideal future will be when inclusive design becomes so commonplace that the concept itself becomes unnecessary. Just as everyone can find themselves in a minority position when traveling abroad, the difference between majority and minority is only a matter of the situation at hand, and the world is never divided into just two groups. I want many people to understand this way of thinking, and I want to cultivate an inclusive mindset throughout the entire group so that we can approach manufacturing with this attitude.