Dentsu Lab Tokyo: Expressions of Love and Humanity through the Power of Technology

Dentsu Lab Tokyo was established in 2014 as an uninhibited innovation workshop, to explore the combined power of technology and creativity to shape the future, solve societal issues and offer exciting new forms of expression. 

Often inspired by love and passion seen in the world around us, Dentsu Lab Tokyo has since pioneered many world-changing and mind-bending ideas. Recently, some of these went on show at the Ad Museum Tokyo, in the exhibition “Technology Finds Love" (「愛と出会えたテクノロジー展」). 

Visitors were encouraged to touch, interact with and be moved by the works on display, to rethink the relationship between humanity and technology.

To mark Valentine's Day, here are some highlights, each offering a fresh perspective on love and connection in this digital age.

FLOWER OF YOUR MIND

Asked to think about the one they love, brain wave analysis (provided by dentsu’s Kansei Analyzer🄬) measured levels of "favour", "interest", "concentration", "relaxation" and "stress" to create an image of a flower, with a petal representing each emotion. This organic and evocative expression of human data could be printed as a unique symbol and memento of their love.

HUGTICS

"Hugtics" revolutionises the embrace using cutting-edge technology, designed to enhance happiness, self-esteem, and mental well-being by triggering the release of oxytocin, the love hormone. Using haptic technology to capture “hug data”, users wear a vest woven with artificial muscles and when hugging a human-shaped sensor, they receive a hug back with the same force. Simultaneously, the positive changes in brain waves are displayed as an insight into the power of an embrace. Hugs can also be delivered to a remote location, to spread love from afar, with the potential to be used in healthcare, support mental health, prevent loneliness and add a new dimension to the metaverse.

NECOMIMI

Translated from Japanese, to literally mean "cat-ears", Necomimi is a headband equipped with cat-like ears that move and twitch based on the wearer's brainwave patterns and emotions - such as when feeling loved, focused or relaxed. Designed to help communicate the user’s emotions instinctively, this product rode on the popularity of cat-ears in Manga and Japanese street fashion, to blend neuroscience with self-expression. Proving a social media sensation, Necomimi was reported around the world, and the ears were named one of TIME Magazine's "50 Best Inventions of the Year".

ALL PLAYERS WELCOME

The All Players Welcome project allows people with physical disabilities to express their love for, and perform, electronic music through the power of technology. With their first project, Dentsu Lab Tokyo gave paralysed DJ, Masatane Muto, the ability to his mix tracks through eye-movement, and play at gigs around the world. Most recently they made it possible for Masatane to also operate an avatar using ‘Electromyography Signals’ and engage with his audience through his ‘movements’, in real-time, when performing in the Metaverse, or on a digital screen.

HAPTIC FIELD

This sports ‘viewing’ device allows the visually impaired to experience live games through touch. Originally designed as an aid for lovers of ‘the beautiful game’, Soccer, the position of the ball can be felt on a miniature pitch console as it protrudes and moves in real-time. This technology has the potential to one day offer visually impaired fans greater access the joy and passion of any type of sports game.

UP-CYCLING POSSIBILITY

In an age where human-made mass exceeds all living biomass, the Japanese art of Kintsugi (金継ぎ) is a pure and small act of love to heal our planet one object at a time. Meaning 'golden repair' or 'join with gold', Kintsugi involves mending objects with gold, metal powder or lacquer, to give broken objects a new functionality, meaning and value. This project applies the same principle, instead using microchips, to offer a modern way to appreciate and interact with otherwise abandoned objects.

FUTURE MASTERPIECES

By 2050 the volume of plastic waste in our oceans is set to surpass the volume of fish. This exhibit uses A.I. to imitate the style of iconic, much-loved, masterpieces of the ocean to portray the future devastation of pollution. The original exhibition, held at Japan’s Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium, attracted 30,000 people in just ten days and shows how A.I. can enhance creative expression and evoke emotion through art to empower our humanity.

GLICODE

This game was designed to give kids a love for coding, created for snack brand Glico. When they arrange candy in the correct sequences, advanced image recognition interprets the patterns into digital commands that can move a game character through increasingly complex challenges. Launched in schools across Japan, the app teaches three basic programming principles, "Basic Syntax", "Loops" and "If Statements", to inspire a passion for computer science and programming through play.

TOKONOMA

In Japan a ‘Tokonoma’ (床の間) is a space in the home where loved items of pottery are traditionally displayed as a focal point. In recent years this appreciation of observing craft has faded and Dentsu Lab looked to reignite the modern audiences’ passion through today’s more popular language, music. Placed on a turntable, like a traditional record, the uneven surfaces and colours of a pot are scanned with a laser sensor, and the data is converted into ambient and enjoyable sounds and music.

TON-TON VOICE SUMO

As we age throat function declines, making choking a significant risk for accidental death in the elderly. Vocalisation exercises can help prevent this, yet these are often boring and hard to encourage. Tapping into the older generation’s love for Sumo wrestling in Japan, this game inspires their passionate engagement, to shout "Ton-Ton" (meaning "Go-Go") and cause vibrations to move toy wrestlers across the ring, a mini ‘dohyō’. The game was an immediate hit with therapists and has become a trusted rehabilitation tool in care homes.

°CURATION

℃uration harnesses the physical sensation of air to offer an immersive and sensorial experience while viewing iconic paintings. Using A.I. to analyse the temperature and humidity levels depicted by the artist, the atmosphere is physically recreated within the viewers’ location, inspiring a deeper, more emotional and powerful appreciation, of the already much-loved artworks.

MICROPLASTIC GLOBE

The ‘MicroPlastic Globe’ project was designed trigger an emotional reaction to the devastation being inflicted on our oceans through millions of tons of polluting plastics. In contrast to the purity of traditional snow globes, the flakes dancing inside these globes use actual plastic waste collected from the sea, to create emotive scenes that represent the suffering of whales, sea turtles, jellyfish and penguins living in this toxic environment.