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INTERFACE

TALK 1/3

The birth of ideas occurs through imagining how technology is changing: TAKASHI KURATA

February 9, 2016

This is part one of a three-part discussion on future technologies and devices between a sci-fi author, Takashi Kurata, who is gaining attention for his unique view on the world, and Ricoh researcher Keiichiro Yutani. In this first installment they bring together their imaginations to ignite discussions on everything from the development of next-generation devices to the superiority of 3D printer technology and idea generation methodology, and additionally consider the common denominators between the author and the engineer.

Ongoing development of next-generation devices that can function even if cut into pieces

  • Yutani

    I’ve been involved in the development of devices using plastics called organic functional materials, which can be electrified, and presently I am undertaking research on electrochromic materials and devices that utilize an electrical signal to change color. It is ink-like technology that can change the color of an object through electrification. For example, these prototype glasses have the technology in the lenses, which allow the transparent lens to change to black at the touch of a button.

  • Kurata

    I see. It’s different from liquid crystal in that the color changes gradually.

  • Yutani

    This material is being produced by Ricoh, and its special feature is that compared to liquid crystal, the transparency is much higher.

  • Kurata

    I heard that you majored in advanced bioengineering in graduate school.

  • Yutani

    Yes. It is an area that focuses on the crossover between chemistry and physics and I was researching things such as organic transistors.

  • Kurata

    I see. There must be plenty of areas from those studies that relate to your present research.

  • Yutani

    Yes, that’s right. Even now I’m involved in areas that I wanted to enter in my university days and I’ve been given the opportunity to pursue those in the way I like. And, it is related to the story that you wrote this time. Since I joined the company I have developed next-generation electronic paper. This electrochromic was also technology developed for electronic paper.

  • Kurata

    It is extremely thin and can be used in applications that can express various objects.

  • Yutani

    Another feature of organic functional materials is a shape that can be easily processed. Usual devices are broken when they are cut or bent, however the lens of these glasses continue to function even if cut. It was really just by chance that there are so many areas in common with the story this time and I could really empathize.

  • Kurata

    Actually I was not aware that such research was progressing and was surprised that the technology that I wrote about was rational (laughter).

  • Yutani

    And by the way, the frames for these glasses were produced on a3D printer.

  • Kurata

    Recently, almost all such prototypes can be produced on 3D printers, can’t they?

  • Yutani

    They are particularly convenient in the research process when you only need to create a small number of prototypes. That’s because the designer can freely draw the blue print and after inputting that data into the printer, the shape is quickly produced.

  • Kurata

    In the past, dimensions would need to be determined in detail, drawings of three views created, then an order would be placed at a factory. This all took a great deal of money and time, didn’t it?

  • Yutani

    Yes, you are exactly right. Personally, I did wonder how a3D printer could be used in everyday life, but I really feel that it provides great value for processes in research and development, as well as manufacturing.

  • Kurata

    I also agree that 3D printers will exert the most impact in those fields. I still can’t image how the output of three-dimensional objects on a daily basis would work for household use.

  • Yutani

    The full-length novel you wrote, Haha Ni Naru, Ishino Tsubute De (The Mothers on the Pebbles), plays out on a futuristic stage with 3D printers that have evolved. And was the idea for that novel derived from asking how will 3D printers be used?

  • Kurata

    I thought about various basic technologies and what they would become after developing over a span of 50 or 100 years. Take, for example, the telephone at the beginning of the 1900s and present smartphones, and even though they are completely different, they are called by the same name, telephone. The basis for my concept was the question I asked myself: “Can I imagine the changes related to technologies, such as what happened with the telephone?” Personally, I feel experimental thinking of future observation is extremely interesting.

Left: Keiichiro Yutani, System Device Development Department, Institute of Future Technology, Ricoh Co., Ltd.; Right: Takashi Kurata, Author

Get an idea and decide where to head – divergent and common points for the engineer and the author

  • Yutani

    When you write a novel, do you first have something that you want to write about and start from that point?

  • Kurata

    As for me, it seems that there are a lot of cases where first I have some certain themes I want to write about, and then I start heading towards that goal.

  • Yutani

    I feel that the scale of the story for your novel is really way out there. We also think about what we create using elemental technology; however, we kind of just ended up coming to the conclusion that we could most likely do electronic paper (laughter). When compared with that, I thought the whole idea of paper becoming an office and beyond that turning into a town was just incredible.

  • Kurata

    In sci-fi, the objective of getting an idea and then deciding where to pursue differs from that of the research that takes place for actual industry. In an extreme case the objective can be making the story as entertaining as possible (laughter). For that reason I try to imagine as much as possible and build out the story in preposterous directions and then later confirm if it appears plausible.

  • Yutani

    Your works are fiction; however, they are written based on a detailed knowledge in relation to tangible technologies and science, aren’t they? I thought that if that realism did not exist, the stories would only be preposterous and not interesting.

  • Kurata

    Thank you. At any rate, because it is sci-fi, I’m careful to write in such a way that readers have the impression that it is somewhat feasible scientifically. I consider if the story narratively has meaning. Researchers consider whether or not what they are doing is socially meaningful or useful. These two viewpoints are quite close, aren’t they?

  • Yutani

    The more I listen to what you are saying, the more I feel that the way in which we determine research and development themes seems to be similar.

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All article

  • PROLOGUE

    Paper Office: TAKASHI KURATA

    Paper Office: TAKASHI KURATA

  • STORY 1/3

    The Cradle:TAKASHI KURATA

    The Cradle:TAKASHI KURATA

  • STORY 2/3

    Born on that Planet:TAKASHI KURATA

    Born on that Planet:TAKASHI KURATA

  • STORY 3/3

    Transitory and Moving to the New: TAKASHI KURATA

    Transitory and Moving to the New: TAKASHI KURATA

  • TALK 1/3

    The birth of ideas occurs through imagining how technology is changing:TAKASHI KURATA

    The birth of ideas occurs through imagining how technology is changing:TAKASHI KURATA

  • TALK 2/3

    Social media is the information source allowing me to run into information a bit off target from my interest :TAKASHI KURATA

    Social media is the information source allowing me to run into information a bit off target from my interest :TAKASHI KURATA

  • TALK 3/3

    By adding movement that is human-like, interfaces will assist ideas and work: TAKASHI KURATA

    By adding movement that is human-like, interfaces will assist ideas and work: TAKASHI KURATA

Theme

  • archive

    WORK PLACE

    icon HIDEAKI SENA

    HIDEAKI SENA

  • archive

    WORK STYLE

    icon MASAMI YUKI

    MASAMI YUKI

  • archive

    COMMUNICATION

    icon CHIYOMARU SHIKURA

    CHIYOMARU SHIKURA

  • OFFICE DEVICE

    MITSUO ISO

  • WORK PLACE

    TOH ENJOE

  • EDUCATION

    KATSUIE SHIBATA

  • INTERFACE

    TAKASHI KURATA

  • LIFESTYLE

    TETSUYA MIZUGUCHI