Exploring future value 10 years from now, starting with design."Future Creation Research Institute"Collaborative activities with
The JVCKENWOOD Group launched the "Future Creation Research Institute" in 2021, which is dedicated to creating new value with a view to the next 10 years. This institute is working on research into next-generation technologies that will lead to the development of future products and services, realizing JVCKENWOOD's corporate philosophy of "delivering inspiration and peace of mind to people around the world." JVCKENWOOD Design is involved in this project, promoting collaborative activities while deepening cooperation within the group.
A new technology strategy combining three core technologies with design.
In recent years, the JVCKENWOOD Group has been working on activities based on its technology development strategy "R&D² (Research, Development, Design)," which has the message "Connecting people and time to create the future." The "Future Creation Institute" is a key organization in this strategy, where researchers and engineers from JVCKENWOOD headquarters and designers from JVCKENWOOD Design collaborate to conduct various research and development projects with a view to the future 10 years from now.
While we have always focused on R&D centered on communications, video, and audio, in R&D² we have re-evaluated "design" as a core technology of the group and formulated a new strategy that combines these four technologies. A design perspective is indispensable for creating products and services that will provide "inspiration and peace of mind" to people of the future, and by leveraging the human-centered design expertise that JVCKENWOOD Design has practiced for many years, we are challenging ourselves to develop new interfaces and technologies that can be implemented in society.
A framework for looking ahead to the future 10 years from now
With a view to the next 10 years, the Institute for Future Creation employs a framework consisting of four processes in its exploration of new value starting from design. JVC Kenwood Design is involved in three of these processes: future persona, future scenario, and future prototype, which are based on the technology roadmap formulated by the institute's researchers.
The technology roadmap will focus on currently trending technologies such as AI, digital twins, and quantum computing, and predict their development in 10 years based on concrete data and facts. Following this, the future scenario will predict the changes that will occur in legal and institutional structures, culture, and values in societies where these advanced technologies have been implemented.
Unlike the common method of defining a single target user, future personas concretize multiple character profiles and imagine their future lives, including their relationships. Then, in future prototypes, prototypes of products and services used by people living in the future society depicted by the future scenarios and future personas are created, and discussions deepen about new interfaces and ways of experiencing the world.
Dialogue and workshops to create the future through empathy
While processes such as persona creation, prototyping, and PoC (proof of concept) are practiced in other JVCKENWOOD Design business activities, the aim of our collaborative activities with the Institute for Future Creation is to visualize one possible future scenario in a completely unbiased manner and to stimulate active discussion. Imagining the future 10 years from now provides an opportunity to reflect not only on one's own future but also on the changes in the lives of others from different generations. The main objective of this activity is to exchange opinions based on the empathy that arises from this process and to connect it to the development of products and services that realize the "inspiration and peace of mind" that the JVCKENWOOD Group values.
Furthermore, in these co-creation activities, we are actively engaged in open innovation through collaboration with various companies, not just within the group, as well as joint research through industry-government-academia partnerships. By incorporating the knowledge gained from workshops that JVCKENWOOD Design regularly practices, and engaging in dialogue with diverse people from different fields about the future 10 years from now, we are challenging ourselves to create co-creation that goes beyond the framework of conventional research and development.
