Human augmentation research towards digital servitization of healthcare and sports business

Abstract

Human Augmentation research aims to temporarily enhance human physical and mental abilities with information technology and robot technology that always accompanies the human, and permanently enhances their ability by using it continuously. Here, we divide the human functions to be expanded into four: physical motor function, sensory perception function, cognitive analysis function, and communication function. Human Augmentation research can be divided into two: one is to enhance each human function, the other is to realise remoteness by connecting to cyberspace, or those that use cyberspace to remove various physical restrictions and expand the scale. Human augmentation research includes development of technologies related to wearable sensing technology that comprehends people and situations, human digital twin that instantly converts that data into human evaluation indicators, and intervenes with the results through VR (virtual reality)/AR (augmented reality), audiovisual presentation, and haptic presentation. In the keynote speech, I will introduce Human Augmentation systems with wearable-sensing, digital human modelling, and intervention for concrete applications, such as healthcare services and sports training. Through these Human Augmentation systems, physical and/or mental abilities were improved temporarily. Moreover, continuous intervention with Human Augmentation systems, human physical and/or mental abilities were improved permanently. In order to develop digital human models and intervention systems, it is required to estimate human functions and context from sensing data with artificial intelligence technologies. Here, both deep data that is detailed human functional data corrected in laboratories and big data corrected through actual business services are required. Therefore, the Human Augmentation Research Centre focuses on not only technologies on sensing, modelling, and intervention, but also on services and design. This research framework directs to Servitization, such as changing the business model from selling the Human Augmentation systems to provision of services using the systems. I will introduce a concrete project on servitization with Human Augmentation system in this keynote. Human Augmentation research also focuses on cyberspace. I will introduce case studies of skill training and remote care services using cyberspace (Metaverse). These services are realised remotely by utilising VR/AR technology. In Human Augmentation using cyberspace, it is important not only to value co-creation in the cyberspace (Metaverse) but also to value transfer to the real space (Universe). Namely, services with Human Augmentation systems should change the bodybuild of a user’s avatar in the Metaverse and the real body of the user in the Universe both. For this purpose, we need not only the technology to immerse ourselves in the Metaverse, but also the technology to return the value created in the Metaverse to our bodies and actions in the Universe. It is a technology that interacts the Metaverse and the Universe and is called Interverse technology.