Happy New Year!

For Keihanna Science City, where ATR is based, 2025 was a year filled with remarkable energy and excitement, driven by both Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, and the Keihanna Expo.

Under the leadership of Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University, who also serves as Director of the Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories at ATR, the project entitled “Realization of an Avatar-Symbiotic Society where Everyone can Perform Active Roles without Constraint” conducted demonstration experiments at the Future of Life Pavilion. ATR provided full organizational support for this initiative. As a result, the project became an outstanding platform for showcasing achievements under the Moonshot Research and Development Program promoted by the Cabinet Office of Japan.

At the Keihanna Expo, we also presented a demonstration of an AI-driven humanoid robot riding a skateboard. In addition, ATR was entrusted with the management of the “Robotics, Avatar, and ICT” committee, as well as that of the “Startup” committee. Looking back, 2025 was truly a year we spent racing through an atmosphere of constant activity and excitement.

Reflecting on the year as a whole, it became increasingly evident that AI has moved beyond merely supporting human activities. From generating ideas to drafting academic papers, AI has demonstrated the capability to produce work accepted by the most competitive international conferences. AI is no longer limited to improving efficiency in routine tasks; it has now reached a stage where it can even substitute for humans in creative domains. Although Ray Kurzweil predicted the arrival of the singularity around 2045, in practice it appears to have arrived far sooner.

In light of these developments, we believe that the fundamental unit sustaining the capitalist system is no longer the individual human being alone, but rather collaboration between humans and AI. AI can be broadly categorized into “invisible AI,” represented by large language models, and “visible AI,” represented by robots and avatars. Avatars, as remotely operated robots, constitute an application domain in which ATR’s long-cultivated expertise in wireless communication technologies can be fully leveraged.

Furthermore, we have advanced “visible AI” one step further by developing robots that are directly connected to the human body and sensory systems—what we call cyborg AI—through research in brain information science. Another major objective of brain information science is the realization of treatments for mental disorders that do not rely on pharmaceuticals. Avatars, cyborg AI, and non-pharmacological treatments for mental disorders together form the core of ATR’s research and development efforts toward shaping the Future of Life.

Now that the singularity has become a reality, corporate management is also expected to shift toward collaboration with AI, and the very nature of research itself is expected to undergo significant transformation. ATR will engage even more proactively than ever before in building strong relationships through research exchanges and collaborative projects with universities, research institutions, and companies both in Japan and abroad.

We sincerely ask for your continued understanding and support of ATR in the year ahead.