Envision the future

Cities and Homes

Depicting the concept of life in the super-smart society

What kind of compelling issues will be caused by such social phenomena as increasing urbanization, a declining birth rate, and an aging population in scenes at home and in the city where people live?
This vision has elicited two social directions—“increased traffic of people and goods” and “change in the nature of anxiety”—by combining these phenomena and future signs. The vision will be depicted by focusing on these newly generated issues of people in society.

Free exchange of people and goods.
The liberation of not owning possessions.

Not being dependent on things or places offers families and their homes flexibility: Sharing services help mitigate resource depletion by creating a lifestyle of not owning possessions.
People have more freedom to move in the world when they don't own a home, car, or furniture, and when their work or schooling does not tie them to a place.

New lifestyle possibilities emerge when people and goods are able to move about easily: The possibilities expand when people and goods can move about freely.
Free space opens up in homes, goods can be used digitally with a virtually limitless sense of ownership, and spare households allow family members to freely use the space in the way that best suits them.

What can communities gain with the free exchange of people and goods?: In place of the satisfaction gained from ownership, what things will people want to share with their community, and what things will they still want to possess?
In communities where people can move freely and home appliances and robots circulate among them, how will friendly relations be created?

Eliminating anxiety from communities
by watching out for residents

Once people have anxiety, it's hard to eliminate it: People feel the weight of invisible fears, from illnesses and allergies that they cannot manage alone to terrorism and disasters that could strike without warning.
Just as we now know that a certain percentage of people with senility will develop dementia, data available to us today can create anxiety that is hard to be eliminated.

City and lifestyle data can help residents feel safe: As cities become increasingly connected to consumer devices and services, they can provide residents with data to help ease anxiety.
When households and wider communities join forces, cause and effect can be identified from data, which can protect people and give people the confidence to go out into society.

How can we make sure that state power does not exert too much control over our lives?: How can we protect people from feeling that they are being watched or controlled, but still ease people's anxiety and give them confidence to interact with society?
What can home appliances and robots do to give residents the confidence they need to go out into society and interact with people?