Start electronics Good evening, this is Bono.
Long time no update.
I didn't know about this until recently, but I heard about a startup event called SlushAsia taking place in May, so I decided to go.
コンテンツ
What is SLUSH ASIA?
Slush Asia | May 13-14th 2016 in Tokyo, Japan
To begin with, SLUSH is an event that started in Finland to boost startups.
SLUSH ASIA is the Asian version of this event, which started in 2015 and will be held for the second time this year. Both events are held in Japan. Last year's event was a one-day event, but this year it was a two-day event due to the increase in the number of speakers.
Below you will find a report from the 2014 event in Helsinki. Reference.
After all, the most important feature seems to be the multinational nature of the company.
In fact, at this event, there were people of various nationalities from Taiwan, Russia, France, and Finland, just to name a few.
Naturally, the main stage and the pitch contest were all in English, which was quite a hurdle for someone like me who scored less than 600 on the TOEIC, but I was determined to participate because it was the biggest event for startups.
I found out the rest when I went there. More than half of the demo booths are Japanese, so I usually spoke Japanese there.
main stage
I really wanted to hear the speech of Mr. Arora Nikesh of Softbank, the main attraction of the first speech, but the train was stopped due to an accident, and I couldn't make it in time.
In the end, we heard very little about the main stage after that day.
I was personally interested in Jason Atsukiri, the bigwigs at Alibaba Group, and DeNA President Nanba.
However, I couldn't listen to any of them because I was mostly visiting the pitch stage and demo booths that day. I will check YouTube later.
By the way, the stage production looks like this. The red lights are dazzling!
LINGVIST.
Learn a language in 200 hours. Free. | Lingvist
I was drawn in by the 200 hour fleetingly to learn the language, and I couldn't resist asking.
It is not a conventional language service, but rather a learning service that uses deep learning techniques to allow students to learn according to their individual proficiency level.
I am curious and will try to use it as soon as possible.
As you can see, speed was the most appealing difference from other companies' services.
pitch stage
Sixty teams will present their presentations for the semi-finals on the second day. Personally, this was the most exciting part of the event.
I cannot introduce all of them, so I will only introduce those that impressed me.
Note that the lighting was dim due to the stage production, and unfortunately, the screen on which I was presenting was barely visible in the photos. I will rely on my notes to write this down.
BONX
BONX - Wearable Transceiver - Official Site
This item allows you to talk with your remote friends while snowboarding or cycling.
I don't think the idea itself is particularly fresh, but as a snowboarder, I want it! It made me think, "I want it! The design is also good.
Z-WORKS
Gadgets to support home care for parents and other family members are sure to increase in the future.
We could not hear the details at the pitch due to time constraints, so we heard the story again at the demo booth afterward.
They can use gadgets with various types of built-in sensors for different purposes. For example, a sensor that can tell if a person is breathing from 3 meters away.
I personally believe that there are barriers to introducing this type of monitoring for caregivers because they do not want to be seen by the care recipients.
However, when I told him so, I was impressed by his answer that it is surprisingly easy to forget about it when you put it on. If this is the case, it seems that the only real barrier is the initial introduction.
I thought that it might be better if there was some way to make the dolls look pretty, for example, by placing them in a cute doll or something.
Giroptic
Giroptic 360cam| HD 360 degree camera for immersive video and photos - 360 Cam
A woman from France with a lot of momentum came in costume? She was giving a presentation with great vigor in costume.
It has three cameras and three sensors (or is it?) built in. The system is a composite of three cameras and three sensors (or is it three?), and combines the images from each to create a 360-degree image.
You can also easily post to Facebook and YouTube.
The presentation was interesting.
SkyREC
SkyREC - Business Intelligence and Analytics
A service that analyzes images of products that people have picked up and routes they have taken in actual apparel stores.
Numerous apparel brands have already partnered with the company, and the demo seemed to be quite complete.
In fact, there was a demo that showed popular and unpopular areas, like a heat map, which gave us a sense of future potential.
The level of presentation is also impressive!
Spoiler ahead, this SkyREC was the winner of the pitch contest. I think they were still shining from the preliminary round.
HADO
It is a headset called HADO, which is produced by a company called meleap.
The feature seems to be that it is cable-free, making it compatible with active fighting games, etc.
It seems that the needs of the market have been captured to a great extent, as collaborations with Nanja Town and various amusement parks have already been realized.
The presentation was very exciting and most memorable in retrospect.
When I see such a hot startup, it makes me kind of happy to see it.
This HADO made it all the way to the finals and won some kind of prize. Congratulations to them!
Incidentally, they are planning a large-scale competitive event in VR to coincide with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. I am looking forward to this as well!
The most passionate presentation.
HouseCare
HouseCare Housekeeping Service - Home
Simply put, it is just a housekeeping service, but what is interesting is that it is very much in line with Airbnb.
It syncs with Airbnb's calendar and automatically finds and reserves suitable cleaning dates? It seems to have a function that automatically finds a suitable cleaning date and makes a reservation?
One challenge is that Airbnb is not scalable.
The logic is that if there is only one house, it may only need to be cleaned once a week, but if there are five of these houses, it must be cleaned every day.
Demo Booth
STYLY.
My recommendation! This service allows you to enjoy online shopping in VR.
When you put on the VR headset, there are clothes in front of you and you can check them from 360 degrees.
I actually tried it out and was able to really see the texture of the clothing, the hood area, etc., which was quite difficult to see from the conventional photos alone! It's not hard to understand if you try it, but this experience is even inspiring.
I believe this is a service that will surely catch on in the future, as headsets such as Oculus and GearVR seem to be gradually penetrating users.
Rather than offering them to existing online stores such as ZOZOTOWN, they are positioned as competitors.
iCON CAST
iCON CAST ~ iCON CAST connects YouTubers and companies
I thought it was good business rather than technical.
The idea is to have YouTubers use the company's products and review them on YouTube.
For companies, this has the advantage of being seen by niche users and gaining instant name recognition.
Nokia OZO
Nokia OZO - Virtual Reality Camera with 360-degree audio and video capture
A 360-degree celestial camera developed by Nokia.
It's like Ricoh's THETA.
I experienced a movie shot with a 360-degree camera, which I had heard so much about. It was amazing!
It is as if you are actually standing right there, and you can enjoy the experience with the same complete line of sight as the main character.
I think it was a scene from a movie, but I was haunted for a while by the realism of seeing the evil hand creeping up behind the protagonist, right in front of my eyes.
It has many cameras.
Pitch Contest Finals
The following five services made inroads. We were not sure about the bottom two.
- SkyREC
- HADO
- giroptic
- vectr labs
- mobagel
Other Impressions
FUKUOKA STARTUP CITY
As you know, Fukuoka is very focused on nurturing startups.
We spoke with a Frenchman who came to Japan from France as an exchange student and then returned to Japan again a short time later to join a startup in Fukuoka.
He said that Fukuoka is the most suitable town for start-ups.
The reason is that they have a start-up VISA and can stay for 6 months.
Hearing actual stories like this, I felt that the culture is definitely becoming more prevalent.
Celebrities
Mr. Jason Atsukiri. This guy is pretty sharp in the head!
He is not just a comedian.
The president of APA Hotel. I was surprised to see him talking normally lol.
Finally.
As for keywords this time around, VR and IOT stood out.
My top picks are VR stuff like OZO and STYLY! After all, the possibilities are endless.
Was it really a fad until about two years ago? Wouldn't it be a passing fad? However, once experienced, the immersive and realistic experience is unforgettable, and it seems to be gaining traction. I think it has already moved into the practical stage.
We must not lose such a good thing! I think that everyone's passionate desire to "not lose such a good thing" is creating a trend.
I want to go back next year! Let's learn some English. Let's do lingvist.
＼電子工作歴9年の私のイチ押し！ELEGOOの電子工作キット／
