Diversity and inclusion are key themes explored in this conversation, highlighting the inherent uniqueness of individuals and the significance of embracing and understanding these differences. This perspective leads to enhanced creativity and innovation, as evidenced by Cheka's work and experiences. Cheka shares personal insights and achievements, particularly focusing on the development of the IBM Homepage Reader, which marked a substantial breakthrough in technological accessibility for visually impaired users.

Cheka delves into his personal motivation stemming from a life-changing accident at the age of 11 and the subsequent challenges faced due to visual impairment. The narrative emphasizes the profound impact of technology on enhancing accessibility, mobility, and independence for visually impaired individuals. Cheka's drive to open up his life and create inclusive experiences fueled his career in developing accessible technology solutions.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. inclusion [ɪnˈkluːʒən] - (noun) - The practice or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized. - Synonyms: (integration, incorporation, assimilation)

So diversity and inclusion is a particularly hot topic in certain regions of the world just at the moment, but we're not going to encompass the whole topic

2. resilience [rɪˈzɪliəns] - (noun) - The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. - Synonyms: (endurance, flexibility, strength)

I mean, it must have taken enormous personal resilience to get through that time when you were 14.

3. navigation [ˌnævɪˈɡeɪʃən] - (noun) - The process or activity of accurately ascertaining one’s position and planning and following a route. - Synonyms: (piloting, guiding, steering)

It's a navigation robot for the visually impaired.

4. perception [pərˈsɛpʃən] - (noun) - The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. - Synonyms: (awareness, recognition, understanding)

If we can integrate panels, perception control, planning and AI into the suitcase, it can be my new travel companion.

5. mobility [moʊˈbɪləti] - (noun) - The ability to move or be moved freely and easily. - Synonyms: (movement, motion, flexibility)

And another difficulty was mobility. I couldn't go anywhere by myself.

6. exploration [ˌɛkspləˈreɪʃən] - (noun) - The action of traveling in or through an unfamiliar area in order to learn about it. - Synonyms: (investigation, study, examination)

I'd like to explore around here.

7. simultaneous [ˌsaɪməlˈteɪniəs] - (adjective) - Occurring, operating, or done at the same time. - Synonyms: (concurrent, synchronous, contemporaneous)

That was a challenge for the simultaneous translation.

8. accompanying [əˈkʌmpəniɪŋ] - (adjective) - Provided with something else or occurring at the same time. - Synonyms: (attending, escorting, supplementing)

Before the latest technology, museum experience really depend on someone accompanying us.

9. optimization [ˌɒptɪmaɪˈzeɪʃən] - (noun) - The action of making the best or most effective use of a situation or resource. - Synonyms: (enhancement, improvement, refinement)

We are moving very quickly the past few years and. Can I show you that video, please?

10. cutting-edge [ˈkʌtɪŋ ɛdʒ] - (adjective) - Highly advanced; innovative or pioneering. - Synonyms: (state-of-the-art, avant-garde, innovative)

But now we have the latest AI and robotic technology.

Advancing diversity and inclusion - Nobel Prize Dialogue Tokyo 2025 - The Future of Life

Thank you very much indeed. Cheka, welcome. And I had the enormous pleasure of visiting your museum yesterday in the company of Bill Phillips. Thank you very much. We met a lovely group of high school students who asked truly insightful questions. It was wonderful. Thank you.

So diversity and inclusion is a particularly hot topic in certain regions of the world just at the moment, but we're not going to encompass the whole topic. How would you define diversity and inclusion? As we're going to discuss it now. Now. Okay, great. Thank you for the great question.

So I believe diversity is not something special because everybody is unique and different. But sometimes, you know, the differences are so large and you know, people often get confused. However, as I said, diversity is a natural part of who we are. So that's why it is essential for us to understand it and recognize its importance. And as we all know, I hope adverse team can be more creative and can be more and more innovative. And I've been experiencing it so many times and maybe I can give some examples later.

And as for inclusion, you know, if the birthday is advanced, the advancement of inclusion will be automatically achieved and technology is going to be a key or one of the major factors to drive inclusion. Thank you very much indeed. And of course you have your own personal story of tackling the question of inclusion. Would you like to introduce the audience to that?

Yes, sure. So in the middle I developed the IBM Homepage Reader. It is the first practical voice browser in the world. It has developed first in Japan in 1997 and later became later supported 11 languages. But when I started developing the Homepage Reader, researchers around me, you know, they are mostly geeky, you know that scientific guys and they never thought the web is going to be to listen. They thought the web is going to see. But I argued, I'm here and I can tell you what this web page is talking about by just listening. And they were, you know, posthumous. They understand it and just, you know, a couple of months of later we developed the Home Based Reader. It is because the team was diverse, we can make the difference. That is one great example for me.

So the Home Based Reader, what was your own personal motivation to move into this area? Oh, thank you for another great question. So it is really related to my personal experience. When I was 11 years old I hit my eye on the side of a swimming pool. And at that time I wanted to be, by the way, an Olympic athlete, not scientist. But anyway, after many bumps and tours I joined IBM research. But anyway, when I lost my sight at the age of 14, I lost my independence as well. And there were two major obstacles. The first one was losing my. The challenge of information accessibility.

In those days there were no personal computers, no Internet, no smartphones. I'm very sure many young people in this here, they don't understand what such. What a world without these things is like. So anyway, I couldn't access any information by myself. That is about the information accessibility. And another difficulty was mobility. I couldn't go anywhere by myself. So I lost information accessibility and mobility accessibility.

So when I became a researcher in IBM Research in 1985, I found the power of technology and I thought in the future our life is going to be changed. So I started working in the area of accessibility. And in 1990s I could develop the homepage reader. That is a kind of historic.

Thank you very much, Jekyll. If I may ask you. I mean, it must have taken enormous personal resilience to get through that time when you were 14. Oh yeah, yeah. Many people ask me about it, but I always say, like I always forget something painful. So I am pretty optimistic. However, the thing I remember very well was because in those days our society was not inclusive. It was very difficult for me to be included. So there was no way for me to go to public high school in those days. So the only option for me was to go to a school for the blind. And I really felt I'm excluded.

So I thought in the future I want to open up my life to be included. So I wanted to find a new type of job as a blind person because I didn't depend on something that was provided by others. That goal really encouraged me to keep moving forward. So inclusion. If in those days our society was more included, maybe I may not be here.

Well, yes, it's certainly driven you in a wonderful direction. And yesterday at Maraikan, you introduced us to this extraordinary new piece of technology, the AI Suitcase that you've been developing to help people navigate the museum and other things. Would you like to introduce us to that? Sure. So the AI Suitcase is now we are developing with Milaikon and oh, by the way, Milaiken is a national museum of emerging science and innovation located in Odaipa, Tokyo. So if you have a chance to after this convention seminar, please visit us. We'll be ready to welcome all of you. And by the way, another thing is we have 29 messages from Nobel laureates. And yesterday Bill Phillips one was added as a 29th message from Nobel laureates. So if you haven't come to our museum yet, please join us tomorrow. Not just A message, even a question posed to the next generation to solve.

Yes. Yeah, that is a question. Sorry. Thank you very much, Adam. Okay, so we are now developing the AI suitcase. It's a navigation robot for the visually impaired. And maybe people may wonder why suitcase shaped. I travel a lot with white can and a suitcase. And at the airport, I noticed that just a regular suitcase is going to help me navigate at the airport without a white can. So one day I thought if we can integrate panels, perception control, planning and AI into the suitcase, it can be my new travel companion. And it was like seven, eight years ago. But now we have the latest AI and robotic technology. So we are moving very quickly the past few years and.

Can I show you that video, please? Yes, please do so. If we can roll the video. We arrived at Diver City Tokyo Plaza. Where should we go? I'm thirsty. Please take me to a place for a drink. There is a smoothie shop. Would you like to head there? Yes, please. We have arrived at the smoothie shop. I'd like to explore around here. Do you have any recommendation? There is a life sized statue of unicorn Gundam outdoors. It is one of the symbols of diversity. Sounds good. Take me there. There is a hello Kitty shop on your left. Here they sell sweets shaped like hello Kitty dolls. They are priced at 600 yen for 10 pieces. Avoiding people entering the Festival Plaza. We have arrived. The Gundam statue is on your right.

Be my eyes. This is a smartphone. Take a photo and it's going to analyze in real time. Take picture button. Take picture. Analyzing picture. Please wait. The image shows a large white robot statue resembling a Gundam standing in front of a building. The robot is positioned on the right side of the image and it appears to be looking upwards with one arm slightly raised. The building behind it has several signs on it. The most prominent sign reads Diver City Tokyo Plaza. Other visible signs include round one, Uniqlo, ABC Mart, GU, H&M, the Gundam Base Tokyo, the Super Sports CBO and the Adidas logo. The sky is clear and blue, suggesting a sunny day.

So much information in a short time. That was a challenge for the simultaneous translation. I don't think no human can speak in this way. So anybody using this is much brighter than anybody normal.

This is an extraordinary thing to have. Does it guide you? So how easy is it to walk with the suitcase and to be guided by it? Oh, it's very easy. Yeah. So by the way, if you are interested in using it, Expo is going to start next month, 13th of April. And we are going to demonstrate this AI suitcase every day. So please come back to Japan again. But anyway, it's very easy. I just hold the handle. And when I hold the handle, it starts moving. When I release it, it stops. And when it's turning right, the right side of the handle is going to vibrate, same as left side. So handle itself is very smart. So what I need to do is just hold the handle, release it, and I can talk to a smartphone saying like, please take me to the Iseguro Pavilion, for example.

So one of the things that strikes me is that this allows you to add extra levels of information to what somebody not using the suitcase would have. So somebody visiting your museum, for instance, could use this to get information that would not otherwise be available.

You mean the result suitcase? Yes, sure. Because suitcase itself is a navigation. It take up the role of the suitcase is a navigation. So in addition to navigating a user to a destination in suitcase, the most important role of the suitcase is navigating a user to a destination.

And as for the AI part, of course we can use AI part just a smartphone. And so when I like, oh, by the way, museum experience is going to be changed for the blind. Because the latest technology is available, we could only depend on someone accompanying us. So the information is going to be limited by someone, but over Long winded Audio Description Audio Guide Long winded so you have to type number or QR code these days, but the description usually very long. So I cannot stand up in front of some exhibition because it's going to take three to five minutes and my friend maybe want to keep moving.

So before the latest technology, museum experience really depend on someone accompanying us. But with this kind of latest technology, we can even enjoy by ourselves and get more information and not just listening to the AI describing about the exhibition. We can ask the AI why this exhibition is good or why this area is not crowded or whatever. Whatever information we are curious, we can ask to AI. But of course, AI sometimes make mistake. So we human beings need to be smart, intelligent enough to find it out. Once again, it's a question of coexistence.

It's an extraordinary technology and it's amazing to see how fast things are moving. I'm very grateful to you. Thank you very much indeed for taking the time to talk to us and to introduce us to the technology. And the only thing that occurs to me is that that's an expensive suitcase to lose.

One worries about losing a suitcase under normal circumstances, but if somebody stole that, you're in trouble. That's a great question. How much does it cost much. Maybe in this audience, many of you are scientists, so they would know how much one LiDAR cost, how much one GPU cost. So you can guess. But I've never thought about losing it. Sorry. I will start thinking about it. Thank you. Maybe I can reply to you next year.

Okay, fine. Thank you very, very much. It's been a pleasure speaking to you. Thank you very much, Adam. And nice to meet you again. Thank you. Cheka. Thank you very much.

INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION, INSPIRATION, DIVERSITY, ACCESSIBILITY, NOBEL PRIZE