Last week, 1871 and ANA, Japan's largest airline, held a joint Fireside Chat to look at disruptive technologies and the future of global transportation. In front of a packed room, ANA Digital Lab Design team members Kevin Kajitani and Akira Fukabori, spoke about their innovative project, AVATAR, a platform that can transport a human's senses, actions, and presence to a remote location in real time, leading to a more connected world. 1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler also shared a number of cutting-edge tech trends that will shape the future for years ahead.
1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler discusses global transit technologies with ANA's Kevin Kajitani and Akira Fukabori.
The United Nations predicts that in the next 25 years, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. That's an astonishing number, but as the global populace begins to move into more urban areas, transportation must improve in order to accommodate this growing migration. As many cities are already congested and dealing with a number of transit issues, innovators have found a number of ways to help us prepare for a future where travel and mobility is streamlined by technology.
At a recent event at 1871, Kevin Kajitani and Akira Fukabori of ANA (Air Nippon Airlines) joined 1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler to share insights on a number of major advancements in travel -- including AVATAR, a new mode of instantaneous transportation that will enable humanity to connect limitlessly. By integrating multiple exponential technologies ranging from robotics to haptics, real-world avatars will allow anyone to teleport their presence, consciousness, knowledge, and skills to a remote location.
Below are some of the evening's most memorable moments.
ANA's Kevin Kajitani kicked off the event with a preview of AVATAR's capabilities and offerings.
"Avatars will eventually allow all of us to exist in a remote location. It will allow us to see, hear, feel, and interact with the world in ways we could have never imagined before." – Kevin Kajitani, ANA AVATAR Co-Director, Digital Design Lab
ANA's Akira Fukabori highlights how AVATAR can be useful in remote locations.
"AVATAR uses a moving machine as a surrogate and people can plug-in to that machine and instantly be transported to the same location as the machine. That means there are many use cases for Avatar -- you can use the technology to go places where humans can't. You can to space, you can rescue those in need, and you can go to the bottom of the ocean. Imagine a world where your skills and services have no boundaries." – Akira Fukabori, ANA AVATAR Co-Director, Digital Design Lab
1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler shares her insights on the innovations that will shape the future of global transportation.
"Artificial intelligence is the new electricity and data is the new oil. What you're seeing is that real-world technologies are evolving at an increased pace. Some of the trends that will help us deal with possible transportation issues include ride sharing, self-driving vehicles, last-mile options such as bike sharing, and flying taxis." – Betsy Ziegler, CEO, 1871
The event culminated with a Q&A panel where Betsy Ziegler, Kevin Kajitani, and Akira Fukabori answered questions from the audience.
"We're creating a platform that everyone can use. A lot of transportation technologies go by the same principles that we've been using for hundreds of years. They require a physical presence, but with AVATAR, you don't need that. And then, AVATAR is also transporting skills as well -- you can use it to do things that are outside or far away from your immediate area." – Kevin Kajitani, ANA AVATAR Co-Director, Digital Design Lab
Attendees met with 1871 and ANA representatives following the event to learn more about AVATAR and innovative technologies in the transportation industry.
Following the event, attendees networked with 1871 and ANA representatives to learn more about how today's innovations will mold tomorrow's transit.
Interested in attending an event at 1871? Find out more by heading to our event page.
