Artificial Intelligence

SoftBank Group Corp. has put billions of dollars into a laser-based technology that could allow cars to drive themselves and help astronauts land on distant planets. It turns out that same technology makes a pretty good vacuum cleaner.

Japanese home goods maker Iris Ohyama has chosen a hard-hit Fukushima community as a location to build a cutting-edge factory that can adapt itself to changes in supply and demand.

Startups are continuing to grow in Japan, with a Nikkei survey finding the estimated corporate value of the 20 leading newer businesses increased 22% to exceed a combined value of 1 trillion yen ($9.2 billion) in the year to September. Growth is especially notable in the artificial intelligence and financial technology, or fintech, areas.

As Japan’s construction firms are squeezed by the tightest labor market since the 1970s and a rapidly aging population, they are pouring investment into technology — and providing unexpected support to an economy reeling from the bitter U.S.-China trade war. The industry sees artificial intelligence and robots — which can scurry around building sites day and night, preparing equipment and moving materials for the next day’s construction — as a way to future-proof and close the labor gap.

The brains behind a successful bakery are no doubt the developers of pastries and other delectable goods, but this brain makes checking them out a piece of cake. BakeryScan, a bread image recognition system, is spreading among bakeries across Japan as the system instantly identifies various types of breads and calculates the bill for them at the register.

Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it will team up with the University of Tokyo to nurture specialists in artificial intelligence as part of efforts to secure talent in the hot next-generation technology.

Japan will begin research on using artificial intelligence to bolster surveillance by naval patrol aircraft, as a changing national security environment forces the Self-Defense Forces to take on wider roles despite a personnel shortage.

Japan plans to offer subsidies to older drivers who install safety devices such as automatic brakes in their vehicles as the country combats the rising number of accidents among senior drivers.

Scientists have devised a simple test to evaluate cognitive functions of elderly people to determine signs of early onset of dementia.

Some 200 Japanese companies and organizations will take part in an initiative to develop smart cities in Southeast Asia, as Tokyo battles for influence with its Chinese and South Korean rivals.