ダイバーシティ＆ヘルスケア領域での研究開発と事業化に取り組むピクシーダストテクノロジーズ株式会社（本社：東京都千代田区、代表取締役CEO：落合 陽一、以下「PxDT」）と大日本住友製薬株式会社(本社：大阪市、代表取締役社長：野村 博、以下「大日本住友製薬」)は、このたび、難聴者のコミュニケーションを支援するスマートグラス（以下「難聴者支援スマートグラス」）に関する共同研究開発契約を締結しましたので、お知らせします。

背景

難聴者は国内で約1460万人と推定されています。難聴者の多くはコミュニケーションツールとして補聴器を使用していますが、会議など1対多/多対多のコミュニケーションの場面では、複数人が同時に発話すると、発話者が誰か分かりづらい、発話内容が聞き取りづらいといった課題があります。

概要

大日本住友製薬とPxDTは発話者と発話内容を字幕で表示するスマートグラスを開発することにより、補聴器では解決が困難な課題に取り組みます。
両社はこれまでの共同研究開発により、難聴者支援スマートグラスの要素技術およびプロトタイプの開発を行い、当該プロトタイプを用いた難聴の方々へのインタビューを通じて、難聴者支援スマートグラスに対する社会的ニーズがあることを確認しました。これに伴い、両社は、難聴者支援スマートグラスの表示ユーザインターフェイスの改善や、ユーザビリティの向上を目指し、新たに共同研究開発契約を締結しました。

今後の展望

大日本住友製薬とPxDTは、ユーザビリティに優れた難聴者支援スマートグラスを共同で研究開発することにより、難聴者のコミュニケーションの壁を解消し、難聴者が十分に能力を発揮できる社会の実現を目指します。

Reaching a joint research and development agreement on smart glasses to assist communication for deaf and hard of hearing people
—Achieving a society where deaf and hard of hearing people can fully demonstrate their abilities—

Pixie Dust Technologies (PxDT), Inc., a company that performs research and development and commercialization in the field of diversity and healthcare (main office : Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; representative director and CEO: Yoichi Ochiai), and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., (head office: Osaka-shi; representative director, president, and CEO : Hiroshi Nomura) have reached a joint research and development agreement on smart glasses to assist communication for deaf and har of hearing people (hereinafter referred to as “assistive smart glasses for deaf and hard of hearing people”).

■Background
It is estimated that there are approximately 14.6 million deaf and hard of hearing people in Japan. Many deaf and hard of hearing people use hearing aids as a communication tool. However, in one-to-many or many-to-many communication situations, such as meetings, it can be challenging for them to distinguish who the speaker is or to hear what is being said when several people are speaking at the same time.

■Overview
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and PxDT will tackle the challenges that are difficult to solve with hearing aids by developing smart glasses that display the speaker and the content of the speech using subtitles.
Using their past joint research and development, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and PxDT have developed elemental technologies and prototypes of assistive smart glasses for deaf and hard of hearing people. According to interviews with them, the companies have also confirmed that there is a social need for such assistive smart glasses. Accordingly, the companies have signed a new joint research and development agreement to achieve improvements in the display user interface and the usability of assistive smart glasses for deaf and hard of hearing people.

■Future Prospects
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and PxDT will collaborate on the research and development of assistive smart glasses with superior usability for deaf and hard of hearing people to eliminate the communication barriers they face and achieve a society where they can fully demonstrate their abilities.

■About Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd.
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma’s corporate philosophy is to contribute to society broadly through the creation of new values based on research and development for the benefit of people’s health and the enrichment of their lives. To realize this philosophy and deliver innovative and useful drugs to people in Japan and around the world, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma is devoting all its efforts to the research and development of new drugs. Moreover, the company aims to create innovative drugs in highly unmet medical need areas of neuropsychiatry, oncology, and regenerative and cellular medicine. Aiming to contribute to the realization of “diverse health” in areas other than pharmaceuticals, the company is promoting the research and development and commercialization of new healthcare solutions as a “frontier business” that transcends the boundaries of existing pharmaceutical companies.

■About Pixie Dust Technologies, Inc.
We, Pixie Dust Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, are a company that is strongly confident that we are most superior in digital ultrasonic wave control in the whole world, led by two founders who hold Ph.D.
We are a tech company to deliver a “new option” in order to cater to unmet needs throughout the world that can go beyond the traditional approaches using medicine, such as “hair regrowth” and “therapy for dementia by intervening five senses.” We have a core technology specializing in “wave control technology” that can manipulate not only ultrasound but also audible sound, visible/invisible light, and electromagnetic wave, and our main domain is to “improve QOL,” “supplement and enhance physical abilities,” and “deal with aging,” focusing on the development of non-contact/non-invasive devices in the field of healthcare and diversity.
In addition, we are an IT-related company whose businesses are in alignment with ESG. As other technologies derived from wave control technology, we have an innovative portfolio that largely differs from competitors in the area of carbon neutrality, including “DX of physical space” based on measurement and optimization, and metamaterial for which we conduct wave simulation to explore and design new materials.