The HAPTIC DESIGN project was implemented to explore the new realm of design involving touch , with the motto of “Design of Haptics, Design by Haptics, Design for Haptics.” Professor Kouta Minamizawa from the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design (KMD), who has collaborated with Loftwork on numerous projects, and who is the organizer of this project, was interviewed once again about his activities.

Following the first part, which looked back at the origins of the “Haptic Designer” title born from the HAPTIC DESIGN AWARD and his initial encounters with Loftwork’s MTRL division, the second part delves into Professor Minamizawa’s current involvement in moonshot research and development projects and discusses the potential of co-creation between academia and the industry. The interviewers were Kazuya Ohara (“Benkei”), the head of Loftwork’s MTRL, and Emi Nagashima, MTRL’s Vice-manager.

Co-creation Projects that Have Resonated within the Academic World

How has the response to the award influenced your subsequent activities?

Kouta Minamizawa, Professor at Keio University Graduate School of Media Design (KMD).

Minamizawa: In 2019, the World Haptics Conference, the largest academic conference in the field of haptics, was held in Tokyo, and we established a new Haptic Design division within the conference. We were able to gather activities and works related to haptic design not only from our own efforts but also from Europe and North America. Alongside the HAPTIC DESIGN AWARD, several haptic-related projects with Loftwork had been initiated, and numerous academia-industry collaboration projects in haptic design had started at the university as well, so it became an opportunity to once again present our activities in the academic world. At the same time, initiatives aimed at haptic design were beginning in Europe and North America, creating a venue where haptic design efforts from around the world could come together.

Experience toolkits: the HAPTICS OF WONDER 12 Haptics αGEL Sample Book

The HAPTICS OF WONDER 12 Haptics αGEL Sample Book is one of the projects born from the initiative of Haptic Design. Created in collaboration with Taica Corporation, which develops the very soft gel-like material αGEL, this toolkit serves as a tool to communicate not just functional value but also the sensory value of the material. Like a set of colored pencils with 12 colors, we developed a kit that allows you to experience a gradient of the “12 Haptics” of gel materials. Professor Minamizawa conducted workshops to explore indicators of the sensation of touch.

What kind of response did you receive from the academic world?

Minamizawa: There was a lot of empathy from researchers of the same generation who shared similar awareness . Although haptics has a relatively short history as an academic field, it has already reached a stage where its societal deployment is being actively considered, and researchers of my generation with similar awareness  had started activities in various places. It was significant to show these peers our achievements in co-creation with companies, and we were planning to continue this in the next few years. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Oh, it was during that time…

Minamizawa: Yes. It felt like everything was reset at that point. After all, it became a world where touching was not allowed. Workshops, meetups, hackathons, and most projects were disrupted, and academic conferences themselves had to shift to online, which caused significant setbacks during that period.

Envisioning human life in 2050 with the Moonshot Research and Development Program

What led to your research plan being selected for the Moonshot Research and Development Program* in 2020?

* Moonshot Research and Development Program: a major research initiative sponsored by the Cabinet Office of Japan, designed to promote ambitious research and development based on bold, innovative ideas originating from Japan.

Minamizawa: The cancellation of many projects actually made a significant impact for us: it was a great opportunity to consider everything from scratch and draft a new research proposal. Coincidentally, the government launched the Moonshot program at the same time that the COVID-19 pandemic was pushing all activities online, and I found myself having more (online) discussions about future directions with researchers of my generation.

Typically, such large-scale projects with significant budgets are undertaken by more senior researchers, so initially, I thought it was too early for us. However, someone involved in drafting the plan expressed a desire for the generation that will still be active in 2050 to participate, which encouraged me to go ahead and draft the proposal.

 While envisioning life in 2050, we decided to write it like a story from a science fiction novel, considering what kind of turning point humanity might be facing by then. We imagined how humanity — having gone through the pandemic — might progress, what changes might occur in lifestyles and work styles, and then incorporated these ideas into the actual planned research activities.

In our regular research projects, we try to predict five years into the future as specifically as possible and develop steps to realize these predictions. However, with the Moonshot program, we need to think about 30 years into the future. This required us to conceptualize over a much longer timespan than before.

Through activities like haptic design, we had sensed signs of change within society. Using that as a foundation, we predicted how people’s emotions, psychological states, and values might change by around 2030 after experiencing the pandemic.

Furthermore, by around 2040, when AI and digital spaces are fully developed, I considered whether people might start questioning what we’re living for.  At that time, technologies that enhance our abilities or allow us to communicate our senses with each other, much like glasses or smartphones today, or technologies that enable us to move freely between virtual and real worlds, might become essential for humans to live truly human lives.

For instance, we may live in a world where one’s experiences and sensations can be shared with anyone digitally, or where one can re-experience something recorded by someone else. Or it might be a world where one has virtual or robotic bodies in various places, enabling activities beyond the constraints of space and body, much like teleportation. Assuming such a society arrives by 2050, we reverse-engineered to envision what social implementations need to be addressed by when, and compiled it into a story.

Designing Complexity to Create the “New Normal” of the Future

While many technologies are evolving with a focus on efficiency, the tactile communication technology that you’re working on seems aimed at reclaiming the human element that gets lost in the pursuit of efficiency.

Minamizawa: Yes, the reason we are researching haptics is because we believe that haptics is necessary for humans to truly feel human. From the perspective of efficiency, it might be quicker and cheaper to operate without haptics. However, I doubt humanity has evolved to the point where we can embody experiences without the intervention of, well, our bodies.

For example, in today’s information society, information spreads through text, audio, and video, while at the same time, we see rapid outbreaks of controversies and divisions on social media. In this context, to regain the aspects of communication that have become detached from bodily sensations, I think haptics is essential. Even if it is less efficient, we need a sense of touch that can convey pain, both personally and to others, which in turn encourages more careful communication. I believe that in the coming era, haptics will be required to play such a role.

How does Loftwork view co-creation alongside academia, such as with Professor Minamizawa and his colleagues?

Nagashima: In Loftwork’s MTRL division, we often collaborate with academia, and every opportunity for co-creation has been a chance to broaden our perspective. Personally, I’m continually learning and realizing just how many more challenges there are to take on in the world.

Loftwork doesn’t operate from the stance of directly solving a client’s problem, but rather works alongside them to find clues toward solutions. It’s not just about creating something and being done with it — we place great importance on thinking about how to expand and develop what we’ve made. In that process, I feel we’re able to work together with researchers while sharing a common understanding.

Minamizawa: Absolutely, I think that stance is very important for us as well. With the widespread adoption of the internet and AI, the value of simply having knowledge is changing, and the role of researchers and universities must also evolve. For that to happen, I think researchers need to start considering the broader social ecosystem — including the university itself. Universities can no longer just be places where knowledge is produced; they must reconsider what kinds of relationships they should build within society. I believe our generation of researchers has a responsibility to keep thinking about what we can contribute to that transformation.

For me, the HAPTIC DESIGN project was a turning point that helped establish my own style of working. But with the pandemic, I had to drastically shift again. In such a rapidly changing era, I believe it’s incredibly meaningful to have built a team with Loftwork and FabCafe that can operate without being confined to fixed forms.

Ohara: I believe that it’s precisely because we’ve continuously made small adjustments over time that we’ve been able to work together so closely. Not only in Loftwork and FabCafe’s projects with academia, but also at MTRL, we operate with the mindset of enhancing complexity by combining what only we can offer with the specialties of the people we collaborate with.

That naturally comes with its own challenges, but rather than offering simple solutions to problems, we aim to introduce complexity into a project in order to foster the kind of dialogue that leads to the creation of new value. I believe that will continue to be expected of us, so we want to keep exploring what our role should be as we move forward.

Minamizawa: I think what we’re trying to do is create the new normal of a slightly more distant future. For something to become normal in the future, it first needs a phase filled with complexity and chaos to explore its possibilities — before eventually converging into something so simple that no one questions it. I’d love to continue collaborating with Loftwork and FabCafe to design that phase of complexity leading up to the future’s normal and explore new initiatives together.

Text: Toshihiro Horiai
Photography: Ayami Kawashima
Editing: AWRD editorial team

Kouta Minamizawa — Career Timeline

* Purple: Projects involving Professor Minamizawa. Yellow: A project co-created by Loftwork/FabCafe and Professor Minamizawa

Links Related to the Activity Timeline

• 2010.12 – TECHTILE Toolkit
• 2011 – YCAM InterLab Camp -TECHTILE- Source: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]
• 2014 – JST ACCEL Embodied Media Project : “Foundation and Application Development of Embodied Media Technology Based on Haptic Primitives” (Project Lead : Prof. Susumu Tachi, University of Tokyo)
• 2014–2018 – Shock-a-thon : A series of hackathons focused on haptic technology
  • 2014 – Haptic Hackathon Shock-a-thon 2014
  • 2015 – Haptic Hackathon Shock-a-thon 2015
  • 2016 – Shintaisei Shock-a-thon 2016
  • 2017 – Shock-a-thon 2017 HAPTIC DESIGN / Planned & Operated by LW
  • 2018 – Shock-a-thon 2018 Tokyo / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2014.10 – Superhuman Sports Project
• 2015.04 – KMD Embodied Media Project
• 2015 – Synesthesia Suit (with Enhance & Rhizomatiks)
• 2015.06 – Start of the Superhuman Sports Society
• 2015 – 1st Superhuman Sports Hackathon
• 2016 – 2nd Superhuman Sports Hackathon / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2016 – 3rd Superhuman Sports Hackathon
• 2015.10 – 1st Superhuman Sports EXPO
• 2016.01 – Publication of Introduction to Touch
• 2016 – Iwate-based Superhuman Sports Project
• 2016 – 1st Superhuman Sports GAMES
• 2016 – HAPTIC DESIGN PROJECT / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2016 – HAPTIC DESIGN AWARD / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2017.06 – “Super☆Baseball” Development Project (with Yokohama BayStars)
• 2017.09 – Superhuman Sports Society × Super Welfare Expo “Super Welfare Sports” Development Project / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2017 – HAPTIC DESIGN AWARD / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2017–2018 – HAPTIC DESIGN Meetup / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2018.02 – “Research Complex NTT R&D @ICC x HAPTIC DESIGN PROJECT
• Towards Design of Touch: Starting from Zero Distance”/ Planned & Operated by LW
• 2018.03 – Development of new tactile toy “Tactile Sumo” in collaboration with Isetan Cocoiiku and Haptic Design Project
• 2018.01 – B.LIVE (with B.League / Fujitsu / YAMAHA)
• 2017–2019 – Living Lab Shibuya / Designed and constructed by LW
• 2019 – Public Booth for Vibrotactile Communication(with NTT)
• 2019 – JST ACCEL EMBODIED MEDIA PROJECT FACTBOOK 2014–2019 / Planned & Produced by LW
• 2019.02 – HAPTICS OF WONDER : 12-Haptics αGEL Sample Book / Planned & Produced by LW
• 2019.07 – IEEE World Haptics Conference 2019 Design Showcase / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2019.11 – SHIBUYA QWS “QWS Academia” / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2020.12 – JST Moonshot Research and Development Program : Project Cybernetic Being
• 2021.06 – Opening of Avatar Robot Café DAWN β (by Ory Lab)
• Related article : Towards a society where people are freed from limitations by using “another body”
• 2021.07 – Project Cybernetic Being Lab @Takeshiba / Designed and Constructed by LW
• 2022.08 – Future of Digital Embodiment Exhibition by “Emerging Field of Digital Embodiment Economics” / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2022.11 – Launching of a co-creation project to fuse traditional crafts and haptic technology for new value and lifestyles (with the Craft Industry Association)
• 2023.01 – Development of the haptic sharing technology “FEEL TECH” (with NTT DOCOMO)
• 2023.05 – How Will Cybernetic Avatars Change the Way We Work? – Experiment at Avatar Robot Café DAWN β
• 2024.11 – Brain Body Jockey Project at ALS Awareness Music Festival “MOVE FES. 2024” (with WITH ALS)
• 2024.07 – Cybernetic being Meetup / Planned & Operated by LW
• 2025.04 – Renewal of the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design(KMD) website / Planned & Produced by LW
• 2025.07–09 – Moonshot Park at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai: “Cybernetic Being Life in 2050” – A Future Society Created Through Embodied Co-Creation / Planned & Operated by LW