SECOM strives to create the "Social System Industry" and provide peace of mind, aligning with our mission to contribute to the realization of a worry-free society. As society is constantly changing, SECOM must always be innovative. The mission of the Intelligent Systems Laboratory (ISL) is to drive SECOM's innovation forward. In order to address the fears, concerns, and worries that underlie our daily lives and develop better services, it is crucial to deeply understand individuals and society. Within ISL, the Social Affairs Division and the Service Engineering Division fulfill this role.
SECOM developed Japan's first online security system, "SP Alarm," which maximizes human efficiency by utilizing sensors and communication technologies to detect intruders. At ISL, the Vision Intelligence Division, Sensing Technology Division, and Digital Platform Division are actively researching advanced technologies such as image recognition, artificial intelligence, sensing, and trust in cyberspace. Additionally, the "Concept Modeling Division" focuses on the rapid prototyping methods for services.
ISL provides an environment where researchers with diverse specializations can collaborate. This collaborative approach enables researchers to gain a comprehensive perspective of what innovative services mean to society are. ISL remains committed to continuously delivering technologies that enhance safety and convenience in people's lives.
In order to create a service that provides safety and security, it is crucial to possess a deep understanding of society, anticipate needs, and envision the desired future of society. The Social Affairs Division is conducting research in the areas of risk management, environmental energy, and healthcare, with society itself as the focal point. Addressing societal challenges necessitates not only the collection and analysis of data but also philosophical contemplation, theoretical framework development, and exploration of underlying mechanisms.
The Service Engineering Division conduct research on the engineering aspects of service design and processes. It is crucial to quantify qualitative aspects such as individuals and society that are involved with the service. Furthermore, we are working on methods to realize service design and optimal planning that involve the process of "understanding the status of individuals and objects," "predicting what will happen," and "taking appropriate actions based on the obtained information and predictions."
The Sensing Technology Division conducts research on sensing using various media such as light, sound, heat, and radio waves. Understanding the state of humans and objects is crucial for providing services. Therefore, we conduct studies on advanced imaging and pattern recognition of sensing data, as well as research on multi-sensing that integrates multiple types of sensors. Additionally, we also focus on efficiently implementing sensing algorithms into embedded systems to ensure low power consumption and high-speed operation of the sensors.
The objective of the Vision Intelligence Division is to achieve advanced real-world sensing through the use of images. Although computational environments have made significant progress in recent years, there are fundamental problems that cannot be solved by sheer quantity alone. Essentially, in the absence of definitive principles, the challenge is how to create technology that meets societal demands and determine the appropriate methodology, as well as whether fragments of principles can be discovered in the process.
Prototyping is a crucial process in the development of services as it allows for the practical experience of concepts and values. The mission of the Concept Modeling Division is to explore prototype construction techniques from both theoretical and practical aspects. Ensuring stable performance of the prototype in various environments requires considering probabilistic delays such as communication speed. However, this aspect is currently not taken into account during the initial consideration of the algorithm's principles. Moreover, when algorithms are updated during the prototype construction phase, there is a potential need to start the specification from scratch. Therefore, it becomes advantageous to design prototypes with the anticipation of specification changes.
Digital technologies such as AI, IoT, and cloud computing are now in common use. Digital technologies have driven the integration of the cyber world and the physical world. The era of advanced digital societies has arrived. In this era, the three perspectives of security, privacy, and trust are essential, since IoT devices and clouds from multiple providers are closely linked. To create the platforms for future digital services and their system architectures, we are conducting research activities while integrating various technologies based on these perspectives across disciplines.