DX Initiatives

We will develop 3D geophysical exploration technology for acquiring 3D geotechnical information and technology for modeling and visualizing this information in 3D. Until now, geotechnical information has depended to some extent on "estimations" based on the experience of expert engineers. Moving forward, we will output geotechnical information in a more quantitative format that is easy for anyone to understand. As a result, we are able to reduce discrepancies in evaluations and judgments caused by different experience levels and reduce the danger of overlooking geotechnical risks. By providing non-experts with new opportunities for geotechnical utilization, we expect to create new businesses and markets.

These solutions for preventing and mitigating natural disasters consist of a multi-point disaster prevention sensor that uses edge computing, LPWA, and IoT/cloud, and a function which uses AI to extract sensor installation locations (potentially dangerous locations for landslide disasters). The solutions make it possible to suppress operation costs and personnel burden and can be controlled by multi-point, complete-area, wide-area, and real-time monitoring. The introduction of AI has enabled an approximately 99% reduction in the time required to extract potential danger locations for landslide disasters, which previously required a large number of labor hours for careful analysis by geological engineers. This system won the first-place award of MCPC Award 2020 (sponsored by the Mobile Computing Promotion Consortium) in the Services & Solutions category.

Buried pipes under roads are often mistakenly damaged during excavation work due to inaccurate location information. Furthermore, it takes time and effort to obtain information for separate sites from different location information managers. Such issues cause many inefficiencies for business involved in road construction in urban areas. In these services, the location information of buried pipes is actually measured by a dedicated radar exploration vehicle, and AI is used to clarify the type and 3D arrangement status of the information. Furthermore, the services make it possible to extract only the desired amount of the desired data via the cloud. This eliminates the above inefficiencies and contributes to smart urban development.

When considering the current situation in which natural disasters are becoming more frequent and severe, companies from various industries gather together to create a disaster-resistant society called the "Disaster Prevention Consortium CORE." OYO is a representative corporation for one of the CORE subcommittees. We are working on the development of real-time hazard maps. In addition to real-time information obtained from natural disaster prevention IoT sensors and SNS, the real-time hazard maps use existing security camera images for natural disaster prevention (AI is used to automatically analyze camera images). In this way, we aim for fast and low-cost social implementation of a system which covers all of Japan.

Our Core Laboratory Experiment Center is the largest test facility in the private sector for the evaluation and analysis of soils and rocks. It is necessary to accurately perform various tests in a short period of time on a huge number of samples sent every day from throughout Japan. Therefore, we introduced AR (Augmented Reality) and RFID tags in an effort to utilize IoT and visualize the progress of indoor tests. We are also improving the productivity of testing operations by using AI to automate testing and introducing testing equipment that can be operated remotely. Furthermore, we have introduced a test operation manual using AR and are using digital technology to ensure the succession of techniques.

Remote presence using wearable cameras, etc. At sites such as geological surveys, the client directly visits the worksite to check the progress and results of the work. However, at sites such as dam surveys deep in the mountains, it is necessary to travel several hours by car from the office to the worksite. Such circumstances place a heavy burden on the client, and have become an issue from the perspective of efficiency and work style reform. Therefore, the Company uses a method (remote presence) which uses wearable cameras or other equipment to allow clients to check the worksite online. By making improvements while incorporating customer requests, we have established remote presence as a new worksite management method.