山本さん藤井さん
Aiming for a society where anyone can be safe and comfortable at all times, whether they are getting in or out or are in a moving vehicle
/Relieving concerns during movement through accurate sensing and safety monitoring
To provide all people who use mobility vehicles with peace of mind and safety, in addition to the entry system, which provides support for entry and exit, another thing that must be considered is support during movement. The safety monitoring system developed by Aisin provides reassurance, safety and comfort at the time of entry into and exit from mobility vehicles and while riding in mobility vehicles by making the most of cameras and sensing technologies.
"For example, people who take driverless mobility vehicles must be concerned about response in the event of an emergency. By using car-mounted cameras and sensing technologies, in the event of an emergency, the system promptly notifies the control center accordingly and meticulously makes an audio announcement and displays a visual message to relieve the anxiety of the passengers." stated Fujii, who leads the team, analyzing the value of the safety monitoring system.
Specifically, for example, the image recognition technology using AI detects passengers' facial expressions and movements to sense abnormalities such as changes in their health condition. By sharing the obtained information with the control center, etc., quick response becomes possible. Also, the system can identify a wheelchair, baby carriage, etc., to automatically operate the ramp and notify a passenger of his or her personal belongings remaining in the vehicle. In this way, the system can propose reassured, safe and comfortable movement.
"Information obtained by AI image recognition and sensing technologies can be coordinated with various components and mechanisms dealt with by Aisin, including door opening/closing and running speed adjustment systems. By making the most of this advantage, we will be able to quickly provide support considering of all people in every situation."
/Maintaining human warmth to achieve safety monitoring that does not depend solely on technologies
In this way, for the safety monitoring system, Aisin is developing various components and mechanisms for resolving problems during movement and relieving anxiety that the mobility vehicle is driverless. However, Fujii said, "Improving technological strength alone is not sufficient."
"From an engineering viewpoint, we cannot help but try to get a mark of 100 by considering how to achieve labor saving and driverless operation. However, it is extremely difficult to reproduce experienced conductor- or bus-tour-guide-level consideration and performance. Also, even if they could be achieved, a new question arises as to whether we can keep human warmth intact, such as meticulous consideration, in the system. For this reason, I believe that what we should consider is not how to get a mark of 100, but how to close this gap."
To this end, Fujii continues to grope for the ideal distance between humans and mobility by displaying text and images according to the situation and introducing an AI dialogue agent intended to achieve natural communication, so that the interior of the vehicle does not become mechanical due to automatic operation. Fujii said, "To deal with challenges involved in the safety monitoring service, we want to achieve safety monitoring that does not depend only on technologies by keeping human warmth intact."
/Aiming to create a society where the entry system and the safety monitoring system are taken for granted
Entry system and safety monitoring system are correlated in all aspects, including purposes and use.
"For example, by utilizing camera and sensing technologies for the door part, when a passenger in a wheelchair stands in front of the door, the safety monitoring system identifies the wheelchair using AI image recognition, and automatically opens the door widely to take the ramp out," said Yamamoto. Fujii continued,
"When passengers get in and out of the vehicle, the safety monitoring system identifies bicycles, following cars and other obstacles around the vehicle to adjust timing accordingly, thus preventing danger." In this way, they believe that by taking advantage of each strength, further helping to provide reassurance and safety during movement becomes possible. In fact, through mutual coordination for technological development, demonstration experiments have already started.
What both of them hope is that by these efforts, these two services will quickly become widespread across Japan and then across the world.
"Both the electric ramp and safety monitoring services are considered special services at the moment. However, if we continue to hone our technologies and give an answer to each user requirement, someday they should become standard even if the terms of the entry system and the safety monitoring system are not used.
For a future mobility society, these two systems will be important technologies. What Aisin aims at is a society where these systems are simply commonplace.
- Entry system
- An electric ramp, a large-aperture sliding door system, etc. help all people enter and exit from vehicles comfortably.
- Safety monitoring system
- Monitoring with sensing technology and cameras helps to provide reassurance and safety to people moving using mobility vehicles.
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