Mr. Shunsuke Aoki, CEO of Yukai Engineering Inc.
A robot that playfully bites you when you put your finger in its mouth, a cushion-shaped therapy robot that wags its tail when you stroke it, a headset with cat ears that works in conjunction with brain waves, and the list goes on even further. Yukai Engineering Inc. is developing communication robots that fit perfectly into our lives and make them richer and more enjoyable. We spoke with Mr. Shunsuke Aoki, the CEO of the company, who is working to create fun products in an open-minded environment, as the company name implies (In Japanese, “Yukai” means fun and enjoyment).
―You’re developing some pretty unique and unconventional products, I’d say.
CEO of Yukai Engineering Inc.
We value creating products with fun and, through crowdfunding and other means, have commercialized what employees came up with all on their own. We were founded in 2007 and started our business as a joint-stock company in 2011. At present, we are at about 35 members.
―The company name is unique. Where did it come from?
In Sony Corporation’s prospectus, there is a statement that the purpose of its incorporation is “To establish an ideal factory that stresses a spirit of freedom and open-mindedness, and where engineers with sincere motivation can exercise their technological skills to the highest level.”(excerpt from “Purpose of Incorporation”). I loved it so much that I also wanted to create an ideal factory with otherswhere we could enjoy freedom and open-mindedness.
Our mission is to make the world a fun place to live in with robotics technology. We’re developing a variety of products for homes that can offer new lifestyles.
―Please tell us more about what products you’re developing.
Our main product is BOCCO emo, a communication robot that connects family members. It’s often used by seniors living alone or in situations where children with parents who both work are staying at home alone.
―What functions does it have?
It works like a smart speaker, doing things like reminding users to not forget to take their medication and alerting them of heatstroke in conjunction with the dedicated human body sensor “Tsumiki.” It can also work with Bluetooth-equipped bathroom scales and blood pressure monitors to better measure users’ health. The robot will tell them, for example, that they haven’t weighed themselves recently, or that they’ve been working hard to lose weight.
In addition to the functionality of the hardware itself, it also functions as a cloud platform that allows people at home to interact with other family members’ smartphones. When their family member sends a text message from the dedicated smartphone app, the robot reads it to them.
―So it can be used as both a monitoring tool and a communication tool, right?
That’s right. We’d like to develop various services on this platform. For example, in collaboration with RIZAP Group, Inc., which is famous for its private gym business, we’re conducting a demonstration experiment of a healthy life extension platform in Mie Prefecture. BOCCO emo listens and talks to users about exercise and diet on behalf of their personal trainers.
―It would be very useful for managing the health of single seniors who have few opportunities to communicate.
There is also a subscription-based communication service available from SECOM Co., Ltd., a security services company. Operators communicate with seniors through BOCCO emo on behalf of their family members, care managers, and others. They check the senior’s medication and schedule and assist with ordering goods. This individual communication helps keep other family members abreast of the senior’s living situation, as well.
―It sounds like it can help both seniors and those around them feel safe, then.
It seems to me that conventional monitoring tools have tended to create a “surveillance” situation by using things like sensors. However, there aren’t many seniors who want to be monitored or watched directly.
―Right.
The really important information is not whether the person is alive or dead, but how they’re living, whether they’re enjoying life, and whether they’re doing well. This service is appreciated in that it allows users to know this kind of information. So far, we have deployed several hundred units, mainly in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, and are actively expanding to other areas.
―What other products are you developing?
We launched the Qoobo series of cushion-shaped therapy robots with tails in 2018. It’s an unusual robot with no face, no limbs, just a tail that moves, but the number of units shipped will soon reach 40,000.
―It’s amazing how much demand there is for the thorough simplicity.
AMAGAMI HAM HAM, one of our products that launched in July of last year, has already attracted more than 30,000 customers. It’s a robot that just playfully bites your finger, though.
We also offer an educational series called kurikit, which includes a product that is adopted as an official kit of the NHK robot contest for elementary students, which is a contest that started three years ago. In addition, we also do client work, helping other companies with concept development, prototyping, and mass production. Our achievements include popIn Aladdin, a ceiling-mounted smart projector.
―You’ve created a lot of products that are truly yukai. What approach do you take to come up with development ideas?
We are not trying to “solve someone else’s problem” per se, but rather trying to give form to something that is close to our personal fantasies, and something that I would definitely want.. We have developed many products that we or the people around us would definitely love and want to use. We do so because, for example, we want to remotely communicate with our children, who are going to be latchkey kids; we want to get a good night’s sleep; and we want consolation.
―So your personal enjoyment is leading to many other people’s enjoyment. By the way, before founding Yukai Engineering, you were the Director and CTO of teamLab Inc., a software company you founded while studying at the University of Tokyo’s School of Engineering, right?
That’s right, but I’ve wanted to create robots since I was in junior high school. It was shocking to see the products of robot startups at the Aichi Expo in 2005. This led me to start thinking that I might be able to run a business developing robots, so I founded Yukai Engineering.
―What do robots mean to you?
What we are creating is a machine that appeals to people’s hearts by being close to their lives while encouraging and healing them. I think robots will play even more of that kind of role in the future. Traditional industrial robots exist for productivity and efficiency, but the robot we define is a human-friendly digital interface.
―I think one of the characteristics of Yukai Engineering’s products is that we can feel the warm personalities of the people who created them. Now, please tell us about your future prospects. You also exhibited at CES 2023, an electronics trade show in the United States. Are your unique products well received even overseas?
We have exhibited at CES for about 8 years. More and more people are becoming aware that there is a company that makes unusual robots, which we feel is going to create a huge ripple effect on the media.
However, we still feel that there is a big difference in perception between the Japanese market and overseas markets. It may be because of the cat robot Doraemon, a famous cartoon character, that cute robots like AMAGAMI HAM HAM are well received in Japan and other Asian countries.
―Still, do you want to aggressively expand overseas?
Since international sales account for less than 10% of our total numbers, we hope to expand more. We have a lot of experience in crowdfunding overseas and are learning more through trial and error. At the moment, however, we’re focusing on domestic projects due to internal resource issues.
We also believe that the key to overseas expansion is in whether we can find local partners. It’s relatively easy to find ones in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, but quite difficult in the United States. Players in the retail industry in North America seems to have been eliminated except for Amazon and Walmart, so we have almost no choice but to use Amazon and do marketing by ourselves.
―Your new product, the breathing cushion “fufuly,” is a winner of the Innovation Awards held CES 2023. You seem to be getting quite popular in the United States, and we are looking forward to your future developments. Thank you for your talk today.
| Company name：Yukai Engineering Inc. |
| Founded：December 2007 (reorganized as Yukai Engineering Inc. in October 2011) |
| Number of employees：35 |
| Main business：Developing, manufacturing, and selling robots and hardware URL：https://www.ux-xu.com/en |
This article is part of a series of articles introducing venture companies working together as ICF members to resolve societal issues.