Across every industry, the challenges surrounding “people” in business are becoming more important: a shrinking workforce, better pay and working hours, and passing on skills and know-how. Focusing on the security industry among them, TEAM UNNATURAL, a team of Hannan University students, proposed Keibi Goemon, a security system that uses advanced information technology. We spoke with the four members, who won the OIH Award in the student division of Mirainno Pitch 2024.
Combining people and ICT: security technology that reflects voices from the field
Iido
Keibi Goemon is a plan to upgrade and streamline patrol security by using technologies such as AR, AI, and image processing, built around VPS (Visual Positioning System) positioning technology.
With VPS positioning technology, the inside of a building is photographed in advance and turned into data. Then the same place is photographed with the camera of a smartphone, AR glasses, or similar device. The captured images are automatically compared with the prepared data, and the system calculates where the person taking the pictures is and what they are looking at. It is similar to GPS in that it identifies position and direction, but the big difference is that it can calculate position accurately even indoors or underground, where radio waves do not reach and GPS is hard to use.
In Keibi Goemon, the points a security guard should check, such as doors left open or unlocked, are set in advance and shown on the AR glasses or similar. This lets guards wearing the glasses check every point during their patrols without missing anything.
If the normal state, such as “the door is closed,” is registered in advance, the images captured by the camera during a patrol are automatically compared with it, and abnormalities can be detected. These functions prevent human error and raise the accuracy of security, and they also help even out the quality of security, which tends to vary with experience and ability. The system also has functions such as automatically creating reports and showing the shortest route to a place where an abnormality was detected, so anyone can provide high-quality security with less burden.
Like other industries, the security industry suffers from labor shortages, and robots are being introduced as a solution. However, robots are costly to introduce. They are also unsuited to places that cannot be reached without human hands, such as opening doors or sliding doors. Furthermore, when we interviewed security guards in the field, we learned that human senses such as the atmosphere or smells also matter in security work.
So Keibi Goemon is premised on people going to the site to provide security, with technologies such as AI assisting them. This is the big difference from existing security robots.
A seminar tradition of taking on business contests
Iido
I have done the explaining so far, but I am not actually the team leader. I gave the presentation at OIH’s Mirainno Pitch, so I took on the explaining role again this time. Our team has no fixed leader, and we even decide who presents at pitches by drawing lots. At Mirainno Pitch, it just happened to be me.
A feature of our team is that every member can stand in front of people and explain the plan. On the technical side, I handle AR and image processing.
Oba
My role is to combine the various technologies and build the system as a whole. Iido and I are in the same year, and we are both in Professor Etsuji Kitagawa’s seminar.
Professor Kitagawa founded a venture company as a student, and actively supports seminar students in starting businesses. Taking part in business plan contests is a major pillar of the seminar’s activities.
Hirayama
I also came from the Kitagawa seminar, and I am still in Professor Kitagawa’s lab now that I am in graduate school. On the technical side, I handle VPS. As an undergraduate, I never won an award at a business plan contest. I joined the team because I wanted to “take on the challenge now, as a graduate student.”
Fujita
I am the only member from a different seminar. In graduate school, I mainly research security technology. I took part in a business plan contest as an undergraduate, but I could not get the results I hoped for. I was left frustrated and wanted to “try once more,” so I joined the team.
Within the team, I coordinate the members’ roles and prepare documents for entering contests.
After taking part in various contests as a team
Iido
When we first started thinking about the plan, we focused on reducing the burden on guards patrolling the site. But as we refined it, we also began to think from the perspective of the companies that introduce and operate the system. Being able to look at things objectively and from many angles is where I grew the most through taking part in pitches.
Hirayama
For me, a big result is that I built up my ability to communicate, through communicating within the team and presenting at pitches. I also had the chance to hear from the person who served as Hannan University’s head of security. Meeting and talking with people I would never have met in ordinary student life is also a great asset.
Oba
By joining the team, I gained plenty of experience speaking in front of people. Learning the perspective of business owners was possible precisely because I took part in pitch contests.
Fujita
In terms of communication, I built up not only the ability to speak but also the ability to communicate in writing. I think I have gained skills that will be useful whatever path I take from here.
Starting a business someday, after gaining work experience
Iido
Keibi Goemon is still a plan and does not exist as a product. Seeing people at Mirainno Pitch who had already started businesses, I keenly felt the strength of having a product. I will go on to graduate school and continue my research. My interest in starting a business has also grown. Someday, I want to make Keibi Goemon a reality.
Oba
I am also going on to graduate school to master more advanced technology. I want to use the business owner’s perspective and entrepreneurial know-how I gained through Mirainno Pitch and other events in my graduate research as well.
Hirayama
By taking part in various business plan contests, I was able to interact with people my age who had already started businesses, and I was very inspired. After finishing my master’s program, I plan to join a company, but I will keep starting a business in mind as an option while first gaining work experience.
Fujita
I also plan to join a company after finishing my master’s program. Thanks to this year’s experience, I have come to feel that “starting a business is an option too.” It was a wonderful year that broadened my horizons and let me encounter many more possibilities.
How We Used OIH
The mentoring from venture capital that we received by taking part in Mirainno Pitch 2024 was very helpful. We were advised on re-examining the plan from the perspective of the companies that employ security guards, and on how to build a plan that differentiates it from existing services using security robots. As science students, we tend to become “technology-first,” centered on the seeds of technology, and to feel weak at the business side, such as monetization and the pricing it requires. OIH helped us make up for those points.
Interview date: January 16, 2025
(Interview and text: Morinaga Matsumoto)