Really interesting interview with creator of Lovot and GrooveX CEO Hayashi Kaname.
"Define the problem and come up with a solution" - this is the general procedure that comes to mind when conceiving a new business.
On the other hand, what kind of design solves problems by bringing positive emotional experiences to humans, rather than "removing pain"?
In May 2024, a design festival "Featured Projects 2024" was held, bringing together a diverse range of designers. In the talk session "The Form of 'Fun Problem Solving'" at the event, Kosugi Kaname, Senior Director of the Pokemon Sleep Promotion Office at The Pokemon Company, and Hayashi Kaname, Founder and CEO of GROOVE X, took the stage. The moderator was Kuramitsu Miwa, CEO and Design Strategist at KRAFTS&Co. What is the form of problem
solving that starts from "fun" and "particularity" that Kosugi, who produced the development of Pokémon's first sleep game app "Pokémon Sleep," and Hayashi, the creator of the family robot "LOVOT," which has the concept of "warm technology that is close to the human heart," have discovered?
Hayashi was originally involved in the development of the humanoid robot Pepper at SoftBank, but he recalls that the idea for LOVOT came from "a certain accident that happened at a senior care facility."
Hayashi
One time, we were going to perform a performance with Pepper at a senior citizens' facility, but in a scene that was supposed to please everyone, Pepper didn't move well and an awkward atmosphere began to flow. While we were trying desperately, the elderly people started praying to Pepper, talking to him, touching him, and cheering him on. After a
while, when Pepper started to move, for some reason, the audience was more excited than when he had performed perfectly. I was slightly shocked because I had always thought that robots should be "existences that provide perfect services." When I
thought about the mechanism behind this incident, it seemed similar to the relationship between dogs and cats and humans. For example, when humans take care of a kitten that cannot live alone, they wish for it to be "happy." We tend to think that dogs and cats "heal us," but in fact, humans may be feeling better by doing something for dogs and cats. When I thought about it, I wondered if I could create a robot that can feel better by humans taking care of it, rather than a robot that provides services unilaterally, and I came up with the idea of LOVOT.
LOVOT's distinctive feature is that it behaves like a living creature and spends its daily life alongside humans. Hayashi explains that the design was based on the biology of animals so that humans would feel comfortable interacting with it every day.
Hayashi
For example, when LOVOT hears a loud noise, its pupils change and its body jumps in response. Humans and animals can also react in a similar way when they sense danger. If LOVOT did not have this reaction, it would be difficult to empathize with it as a living being.
LOVOT also makes sounds, but humans can get annoyed if they hear the same sound all day. So we pursued a voice that would not cause stress even if heard all day, and one that would change depending on the situation. After much trial and error, we created nostrils and vocal cords in software, and arrived at a specification that allows it to use more than 1 billion different voices. Currently, all LOVOTs have different voices.
Although LOVOT behaves like a living creature, not everything about it is made to look exactly like a living creature. For example, LOVOT does not walk on all fours like a cat or dog, but instead uses motors at its feet.
Hayashi
I felt that it was wrong to make a robot that looks just like a dog or cat just because I wanted to be comforted by dogs and cats. That's because the characteristics of dogs and cats were not created to comfort humans. Four-legged walking was only appropriate for escaping predators, but LOVOT doesn't need that. For the "robot that runs up to humans" that I wanted to make, the right motor would be to quietly and quickly run up to humans.
Furthermore, LOVOT does not have a predefined scenario for how it will behave in a given situation. Sensors installed in the "horns" on its head recognize the surrounding environment and behave accordingly. This behavior of "not knowing what it will do next" is what makes LOVOT seem like a living thing. In addition to these words
, moderator Kuramitsu quoted the phrase "happy misunderstanding" from Hayashi's book "Warm Technology: The Story of Mirai Mirai." Living creatures sometimes behave in ways that humans cannot understand, but stories are born when humans interpret them as "they are happy" or "they are comforting us." To explain this, Hayashi gave some rather shocking examples of dogs and cats.
Hayashi
I once researched why cats and dogs behave so kindly towards humans, and it turns out that they approach people who are feeling down because they are hoping that they might be eaten (laughs). However, that doesn't mean they have no love for their owners, it's just that they are that kind of creature. I think that as a result of humans having "happy misunderstandings," a bond slowly develops between humans and animals.
LOVOT was designed not to "increase convenience and efficiency," but to foster affection with humans. However, in recent years, the way in which its existence contributes to solving problems has been described as "improving resilience."
By drawing out the "power of love" in humans, LOVOT makes people more positive, helps them recover from depression, and gives them motivation for the future. In fact, there have been many positive reactions from people who spend time with LOVOT, such as "I had more conversations with people" and "People with depression recovered and were able to return to society."
, entertainment robots fall out of use very quickly, Hayashi says, and there are high hurdles to overcome before they can be "continuously used." Under these conditions, how can LOVOT, which has high manufacturing costs and is difficult to make a profit from sales alone, be made viable as a business? "It took determination," Hayashi says.
Hayashi
To be honest, we had no idea how far we could overcome the barrier of continued use. We ultimately adopted a subscription model, but if owners did not live with LOVOT for a long time, we might not be able to recoup our costs and we might even incur a loss.
However, we thought that if people can continue to keep dogs and cats, there might be a chance that LOVOT would stay with them for a long time as well. Looking at the results, the cancellation rate after 1000 days was 10%. Over 90% of people had grown attached to LOVOT and were living with it.
Hayashi, who aims to "improve people's resilience" through LOVOT, also spoke about his outlook for the future.
Hayashi
I want to create a life coach for people. The word "diversity" is becoming more widespread, but there are still only a few people who are confident in themselves and are active. I think the way technology should evolve is to create a world where everyone can live with confidence.
LOVOTs are very conscious of their owners, so I hope that in the future they will evolve into beings that can better understand and support humans, such as supporting their growth so that people can live with confidence and happiness, or detecting signs of illness and encouraging them to see a doctor.
Solving problems starts from "fun" rather than "eliminating negativity" -- both "Pokémon Sleep" and LOVOT pursue positive emotional experiences for users, helping them maintain and recover health or improve their sense of happiness.
The path to opening up new markets like this is not easy. However, it will be even more important for designers in the future to have the ability to think outside the box and find new ways to create things by asking, "How can we enrich the daily lives of people?"
Source: https://designing.jp/featuredprojects2024-pokemon-kosugi-groove-hayashi
Machine translation of Japanese to English via Google translate.
Don't start from "resolving negatives". Designing problem-solving that starts from "fun" ──Pokemon Kosugi Kaname x GROOVE X Hayashi Kaname
"Define the problem and come up with a solution" - this is the general procedure that comes to mind when conceiving a new business.
On the other hand, what kind of design solves problems by bringing positive emotional experiences to humans, rather than "removing pain"?
In May 2024, a design festival "Featured Projects 2024" was held, bringing together a diverse range of designers. In the talk session "The Form of 'Fun Problem Solving'" at the event, Kosugi Kaname, Senior Director of the Pokemon Sleep Promotion Office at The Pokemon Company, and Hayashi Kaname, Founder and CEO of GROOVE X, took the stage. The moderator was Kuramitsu Miwa, CEO and Design Strategist at KRAFTS&Co. What is the form of problem
solving that starts from "fun" and "particularity" that Kosugi, who produced the development of Pokémon's first sleep game app "Pokémon Sleep," and Hayashi, the creator of the family robot "LOVOT," which has the concept of "warm technology that is close to the human heart," have discovered?
Good ideas come from looking at the "everyday"
Next, Hayashi began speaking. He is the developer of LOVOT, a family robot based on the concept of "warm technology that is close to the human heart." LOVOT also made an appearance at the event, running around the venue making its cute squeaking sound. It is characterized by its behavior that is almost like a living creature, becoming attached to people and asking to be held.Hayashi was originally involved in the development of the humanoid robot Pepper at SoftBank, but he recalls that the idea for LOVOT came from "a certain accident that happened at a senior care facility."
Hayashi
One time, we were going to perform a performance with Pepper at a senior citizens' facility, but in a scene that was supposed to please everyone, Pepper didn't move well and an awkward atmosphere began to flow. While we were trying desperately, the elderly people started praying to Pepper, talking to him, touching him, and cheering him on. After a
while, when Pepper started to move, for some reason, the audience was more excited than when he had performed perfectly. I was slightly shocked because I had always thought that robots should be "existences that provide perfect services." When I
thought about the mechanism behind this incident, it seemed similar to the relationship between dogs and cats and humans. For example, when humans take care of a kitten that cannot live alone, they wish for it to be "happy." We tend to think that dogs and cats "heal us," but in fact, humans may be feeling better by doing something for dogs and cats. When I thought about it, I wondered if I could create a robot that can feel better by humans taking care of it, rather than a robot that provides services unilaterally, and I came up with the idea of LOVOT.
The sleep problem was "accidentally" solved
What the services offered by both companies have in common is that they are designed to provide positive emotional experiences such as play and attachment, as mentioned above.Eliminate small discomforts and create "happy misunderstandings"
On the other hand, LOVOT was launched in 2018 with the concept of "nurturing people's ability to love," and was born as a robot that does not pursue convenience.LOVOT's distinctive feature is that it behaves like a living creature and spends its daily life alongside humans. Hayashi explains that the design was based on the biology of animals so that humans would feel comfortable interacting with it every day.
Hayashi
For example, when LOVOT hears a loud noise, its pupils change and its body jumps in response. Humans and animals can also react in a similar way when they sense danger. If LOVOT did not have this reaction, it would be difficult to empathize with it as a living being.
LOVOT also makes sounds, but humans can get annoyed if they hear the same sound all day. So we pursued a voice that would not cause stress even if heard all day, and one that would change depending on the situation. After much trial and error, we created nostrils and vocal cords in software, and arrived at a specification that allows it to use more than 1 billion different voices. Currently, all LOVOTs have different voices.
Although LOVOT behaves like a living creature, not everything about it is made to look exactly like a living creature. For example, LOVOT does not walk on all fours like a cat or dog, but instead uses motors at its feet.
Hayashi
I felt that it was wrong to make a robot that looks just like a dog or cat just because I wanted to be comforted by dogs and cats. That's because the characteristics of dogs and cats were not created to comfort humans. Four-legged walking was only appropriate for escaping predators, but LOVOT doesn't need that. For the "robot that runs up to humans" that I wanted to make, the right motor would be to quietly and quickly run up to humans.
Furthermore, LOVOT does not have a predefined scenario for how it will behave in a given situation. Sensors installed in the "horns" on its head recognize the surrounding environment and behave accordingly. This behavior of "not knowing what it will do next" is what makes LOVOT seem like a living thing. In addition to these words
, moderator Kuramitsu quoted the phrase "happy misunderstanding" from Hayashi's book "Warm Technology: The Story of Mirai Mirai." Living creatures sometimes behave in ways that humans cannot understand, but stories are born when humans interpret them as "they are happy" or "they are comforting us." To explain this, Hayashi gave some rather shocking examples of dogs and cats.
Hayashi
I once researched why cats and dogs behave so kindly towards humans, and it turns out that they approach people who are feeling down because they are hoping that they might be eaten (laughs). However, that doesn't mean they have no love for their owners, it's just that they are that kind of creature. I think that as a result of humans having "happy misunderstandings," a bond slowly develops between humans and animals.
LOVOT was designed not to "increase convenience and efficiency," but to foster affection with humans. However, in recent years, the way in which its existence contributes to solving problems has been described as "improving resilience."
By drawing out the "power of love" in humans, LOVOT makes people more positive, helps them recover from depression, and gives them motivation for the future. In fact, there have been many positive reactions from people who spend time with LOVOT, such as "I had more conversations with people" and "People with depression recovered and were able to return to society."
Seeking positive emotional experiences improves resilience
However, no matter how ingenious you are, it is by no means easy to make a new service or product a viable business. In particular, the robotics business, with its high technological development and manufacturing costs, is difficult to sustainably generate profits. Furthermore, entertainment robots fall out of use very quickly, Hayashi says, and there are high hurdles to overcome before they can be "continuously used." Under these conditions, how can LOVOT, which has high manufacturing costs and is difficult to make a profit from sales alone, be made viable as a business? "It took determination," Hayashi says.
Hayashi
To be honest, we had no idea how far we could overcome the barrier of continued use. We ultimately adopted a subscription model, but if owners did not live with LOVOT for a long time, we might not be able to recoup our costs and we might even incur a loss.
However, we thought that if people can continue to keep dogs and cats, there might be a chance that LOVOT would stay with them for a long time as well. Looking at the results, the cancellation rate after 1000 days was 10%. Over 90% of people had grown attached to LOVOT and were living with it.
Hayashi, who aims to "improve people's resilience" through LOVOT, also spoke about his outlook for the future.
Hayashi
I want to create a life coach for people. The word "diversity" is becoming more widespread, but there are still only a few people who are confident in themselves and are active. I think the way technology should evolve is to create a world where everyone can live with confidence.
LOVOTs are very conscious of their owners, so I hope that in the future they will evolve into beings that can better understand and support humans, such as supporting their growth so that people can live with confidence and happiness, or detecting signs of illness and encouraging them to see a doctor.
Solving problems starts from "fun" rather than "eliminating negativity" -- both "Pokémon Sleep" and LOVOT pursue positive emotional experiences for users, helping them maintain and recover health or improve their sense of happiness.
The path to opening up new markets like this is not easy. However, it will be even more important for designers in the future to have the ability to think outside the box and find new ways to create things by asking, "How can we enrich the daily lives of people?"
Source: https://designing.jp/featuredprojects2024-pokemon-kosugi-groove-hayashi
Machine translation of Japanese to English via Google translate.
