The Market-In and Product-Out Approaches

The Market-In and Product-Out Approaches



Introduction

Having recently had the opportunity to speak with individuals from SGI Japan and Cyberdyne, I�fd like to compare the two companies�f contrasting approaches in this article. In a word, the former has launched its robotics business with a market-in approach, while the latter has embraced a product-out philosophy. Thanks to the worldwide renown of founder and University of Tsukuba professor Yoshiyuki Sankai and high-profile hardware such as the HAL Robot Suit that has been displayed at venues like the Aichi Expo, Cyberdyne has gained wide recognition as a prototypical robotics company. At the same time, SGI Japan remains surprisingly unknown despite being an extremely important robotics business. This difference is evidence that most people continue to see the robotics business as being primarily about manufacturing, about developing and selling robots.


Room Render

Developed by SGI Japan, the Room Render space provision project enables a variety of devices in a room to be collectively controlled with voice commands. It can also detect the emotional state of the individuals in a room and manipulate the room�fs lighting, aroma, and other factors to create an appropriate atmosphere for the space in response. SGI Japan considers the space systems it provides to be spatial robots, likening the controlled devices to a robot suit. The user can easily take advantage of the benefits provided by the space by means of a voice interface, eliminating the need to control multiple devices individually or read through thick manuals. By analyzing the voices of the people in a room, the system can also determine their emotional states and guide the mood in a given direction. The ability to create a particular atmosphere based on the detection and analysis of human emotions has been implemented by applying sensibility control technology that is being developed jointly by SGI Japan and AGI. This approach begins with the formulation of a clear business concept from the standpoint of customer value and proceeds with the system-level integration of robot technologies as a means for implementing the concept, ultimately providing a total solution for the customer. Fundamentally, the company is leveraging its integration expertise as an IT vendor while at the same time participating in the development of proprietary sensibility control technology, an element that was determined to be of key importance to the project.


HAL

The HAL Robot Suit can be described as a wearable robot. It can assist the wearer in performing everyday tasks such as standing up, sitting, walking, and traveling up and down stairs. It combines functionality for amplifying force based on the wearer�fs intentions (voluntary control mechanisms) as well as functionality for operating autonomously by generating adaptive motion patterns based on human physiology (autonomous control mechanisms).

Whereas the human musculoskeletal system is controlled by nerve signals transmitted from the brain via motor neurons, HAL facilitates voluntary control by detecting slight bioelectric potential signals that leak through to the surface of the skin. Because it operates only to the extent that the wearer intends thanks to sensors applied to the surface of the skin, the system is expected to be an effective tool in physical therapy and assisted movement for individuals with incomplete bodily function due to weakened muscles or spinal cord injuries. Additionally, its autonomous control functionality will enable it to be used even when biological signals cannot be measured, for example in cases where the wearer is paralyzed.

This product is being developed against the background of cybernics, a new academic field that Professor Sankai has been advancing for some time. Cybernetics, mechatronics, and informatics play a central role in the new area of study, which combines disciplines such as neuroscience, behavioral science, robotics, information technology, psychology, physiology, and system integration technology. HAL is precisely the fruit of research in this new field.

Cyberdyne, the technology venture that is developing, manufacturing, and selling HAL, is poised to bring a long period of development to fruition by launching the new product next year, with partner and investor Daiwa House taking on market development responsibilities. However, Professor Sankai�fs approach to development should not be understood to be a unilateral one where he simply conducts research and incorporates its results into the product of choice. He also works to improve the product by means of detailed face-to-face interactions with customers, a process that has led to the consideration of a new remote physical therapy training service made possible through the skilful use of robots�f sensing and network connection capabilities.

Shared Characteristics
As I have described above, contrasting approaches are being employed to launch these products and services. In the former case, SGI Japan is following a primarily market-oriented approach to build a competitive advantage by exploiting the system integration and marketing capabilities that comprise its strengths as an IT vendor. On the other hand, Cyberdyne is pursuing a technology-oriented approach that has its origins in research and development conducted by Professor Sankai as part of a long-term effort on his part to make certain products a reality. The latter approach suffers from the risk that the focus may shift away from customer value as the creators seek to build and then sell whatever product strikes their fancy, a fault that can be observed in numerous case studies where the principals have failed to create a viable robotics business. In the case of HAL, the needs of the targeted customers and markets are clear, and the project has not lost focus; however, it remains a fact that the approach, lacking a good means for fulfilling those needs, must look to a quantum leap in research and developed technologies for a solution.

Despite the contrasting approaches employed by both companies, there are also important similarities from the standpoint of the next-generation robotics business.

First, both are developing systems that combine robot technologies. In other words, the products they are developing do not take the form of a conventional robot.

Second, although there are differences in the specific ways they frame the features of their businesses in terms of their own strengths when laying the groundwork for their entry into a competitive marketplace, they have both adopted business formats that package and propose customer value rather than simply seeking to sell individual robot products to hypothetical customers.

Third, both companies are moving ahead with proprietary research and development and using knowledge of robot technologies that are still in the research phase as a means of differentiating themselves and gaining competitive advantage. Moreover, in both cases, that research is related to the human brain. This similarity suggests that research and technology in fields such as sensibility and cognition that are related to the human brain will be of key importance for next-generation robots. These brain-related fields have many themes that remain unexplored and unresearched, and it is presumably in these areas that true competitive advantage is to be found.

In these areas, research conducted at universities and national laboratories is expected to play a significant role. I would invite researchers at those universities and laboratories to dedicate themselves not to research and development in the robot technologies in which corporate actors specialize—primarily system integration and combination—but rather to innovative research and the development of technologies that give rise to quantum advances.