On November 1, Osaka University and NEC launched the "NEC Beyond 5G Collaboration Laboratory" at Osaka University's Suita campus. As a pioneering initiative for industry-academia collaboration in the Beyond 5G field, the institute has been established with the aim of producing results, creating visions, and fostering social consensus, with an eye on social implementation. The institute will propose probabilistic digital twin technology that utilizes Beyond 5G and AI technology to develop digital twins capable of reproducing the real world in virtual spaces. The institute will advance R&D, such as on probabilistic robot control, to realize this technology.
On the same day, an online press conference was held, where Yasufumi Kaneda, director and vice president of Osaka University, Masayuki Murata, dean of the Graduate School of Information Science (professor), Atsuo Kawamura, executive director of NEC, and Tomoya Arai, head of the New Business Promotion Headquarters, outlined the objectives of the new collaborative research institute. The newly established institute will develop digital twins through Beyond 5G and AI technology to realize immediate sensing, data processing, and control in the real world. Furthermore, these controls will allow for the transfer of changes made in the real world into the virtual world. There is also informational uncertainty in sensing data. It is also necessary to consider the errors due to AI recognition and that real-world environments are always changing.
Therefore, Osaka and NEC advocate "probabilistic digital twins," which probabilistically and flexibly estimate the real world based on uncertain observational results and acts to make non-deterministic predictions for the future. Probabilistic digital twins represent the world in terms of probability distribution/confidence, not definite values (Graduate School Dean Murata). In addition, probabilistic recognition technology, robot control, communication control, etc., R&D will be advanced to realize this. Probabilistic information-based processing based on such error assumptions makes it possible to tolerate sudden events and real-world uncertainties. On top of this, by securing research infrastructure through the operation of experimental networks and actively communicating this vision, various demonstration tests will be conducted by bringing together co-creative partners from industry and academia to identify and develop new human resources.
The institute was established on the Osaka Suita Campus (Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture). Osaka University's Graduate School Dean Masayuki Murata will serve as director of the laboratory, while Tomoya Arai from NEC will serve as vice director. Osaka will conduct studies on digital twin technology utilizing Beyond 5G, system control technology related to digital twins, and architectural and urban design utilizing digital twins. NEC will conduct research on safe and highly efficient robot control using digital twins through Beyond 5G and AI, and will study the commercialization of research results through products and services aimed at social implementation (Arai). The two sides will pursue R&D and technological demonstrations for the social implementation of probabilistic digital twins, aiming at 2030, when Beyond 5G is expected to launch its services.
Vice President Kaneda commented on these developments, saying "Osaka University is working with various stakeholders to create a society that nurtures a sense of purpose in life. Industry-academia collaboration is an important part of this effort, and so far, we have established more than 100 collaborative research courses and departments within our university. We consider this to be part of those efforts, and we believe that it is a collaborative laborative that contributes to the resolution of global issues with an eye on the future."
NEC Executive Office Kawamura also spoke saying, "The increasingly borderless reality and digital technologies are accelerating, and we are expected to change society and open the path to the future with the power of digital tools to realize a sustainable society. By implementing a probabilistic digital twin society that accurately imitates the real world and reproduces it virtually, including real-world uncertainty, we expect to make a significant contribution to the resolution of global issues."
This article has been translated by JST with permission from The Science News Ltd.(https://sci-news.co.jp/). Unauthorized reproduction of the article and photographs is prohibited.