Completion Ceremony for TOA’s new R&D Base, “Knowledge Square”

TOA Corporation (Headquarters: Kobe, Japan, President, CEO: TAKEUCHI Kazuhiro) held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of redevelopment and grand opening of its new R&D base, “Knowledge Square” (Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture) December 10, 2020.

Knowledge Square is a term for a kind of new business base connected to the redevelopment of TOA’s R&D base, Takarazuka R&D Center (Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture). The location brings together developers as well as users, business partners, partner companies and specialized institutions such as universities and research institutes, to collect a wide range of people and information and be reborn as a place for the “co-creation” of new value.

At the COCOLABO R&D building, we conduct technological development to bring the company into the future, as well as development of “TOA Mirai Solutions”, which are realized through collaboration with various highly specialized companies.
TOA will continue to hone our strength in “Audio notification capabilities” through various collaboration and co-creation. The company will also create brand new, never-before-seen solutions and contribute to the creation of a society where people can live safe, secure and comfortable lives.

■Knowledge Square Overview

Redevelopment Concept

Create,　Share　and　Utilize the Knowledge
A place for “co-creation” that brings together people from both inside and outside the company to create new value together.

About the name “Knowledge Square”

We coined the term “Knowledge Square” to evoke the idea of a place where information comes together. The location was intended for as a location for people with knowledge to gather, interact and transmit their knowledge. It is an expression that includes locations such as buildings as well as more spacious places like gardens.

Knowledge Square Facilities

MAIN BUILDING

This is the entrance to Knowledge Square. This is the location for management and engineering functions, and also contains a space for historical exhibitions.

COCOLABO

This is a newly established R&D and production base that contains an R&D floor as well as various testing rooms. The name evokes the idea of creating value together with our clients and partners (collaboration, co-creation, communication).

OTOLABO

This facility is for specialized sound R&D. It contains functions for producing TOA sound, such as anechoic chambers.

TAKALABO

This newly established building is for document storage. Its function is for the collection of knowledge (takara = treasure in Japanese) created in Knowledge Square.

Knowledge Square Garden

These newly developed green belt and garden facilities are located on the west side of the building. They contribute to heat island effect countermeasures and CO2 reduction as well as providing an area for employees to relax.

■About TOA Mirai Solutions

Goal

Throughout Knowledge Square, we will usher in the future of both TOA and society, using this location as a new base for business creation that drives growth in the TOA Group.

About Solutions

(1) "OMOTENASHI"　Entrance

Partners: DAIKO ELECTRIC, NEC Solution Innovators, HOYA ReadSpeaker
We provide personalized hospitality tailored to each customer by directing sound, video and light. Here, sound and light are directed according to customer traffic and we introduce TOA through mascots by utilizing AI.

(2) The World Window

Partners: TOWA ENGINEERING CORPORATION
The monitor in the event space is a window that connects TOA partners around the world, showing real-time status and enabling two-way global communication. This is a location in Knowledge Square for sharing knowledge with partners across the world.

(3) Smart Office Security

Partners: NEC Solution Innovators
We are working toward office security in an open environment rather than through wall and door security. The system recognizes a person and their security level from captured images and sensors. Speakers and signage are then used to deliver cautions or deliver response to the area according to the area’s settings.

(4) People-friendly Evacuation Systems　

Partners: NOHMI BOSAI, HOYA ReadSpeaker
Aiming for a system that is friendly to both the people conducting evacuation and the evacuees, fire evacuation guidance links fire alarm equipment, delivers real-time updates and alerts, and utilization of equipment in daily life. Here, you can see what the evacuation of the future looks like.

(5) Stress-free meeting room

Partners: Advanced Media, Fairy Devices
By simply installing the equipment in the meeting room, it identifies who is speaking, translates in real time and automatically creates meeting minutes. Subtitles can be displayed for barrier-free support. This realizes a stress-free meeting.

(6) Smart Sound Lecture Hall

This facility enables speakers to talk and move as they please without worrying about the position of the microphone or speakers. The goal is to create a dream lecture hall where volume and sound quality in the venue are adjusted automatically in real time to produce the optimal acoustics without requiring an engineer.