Presentation
Good afternoon, everyone…and thank you so much for being here today…and for bringing so many cameras!
I feel like Taylor Swift!
But seriously, I’ll bet that when you hear the name Toyota…you probably think of words like dependability, value, or affordable transportation…
In fact, I’m pretty sure that “prototype town of the future” isn’t the first thing that pops into your head!
But five years ago…on this very stage…in this very room…
Apparently I was wearing the same tie…
I announced that Toyota…would be building exactly that. We call it Woven City.
Located at the base of beautiful Mt. Fuji in Japan…Woven City is more than just a place to live, work and play…Woven City is a place where people can invent and develop all kinds of new products and ideas…
It’s a living laboratory where the residents are willing participants…giving inventors the opportunity to freely test their ideas in a secure, real-life setting…
A place where we can welcome people and partners from around the world to join us in our quest to imagine and improve how all of us live in the future.
Well today, I am happy to announce that we have officially completed phase one of our Woven City campus…
This year, residents will begin moving in…as we slowly bring our Woven City to life.
As each phase is complete, our population will eventually grow to around 2,000 people…and will include:
Toyota employees and their families…, retired people…, retailers…, visiting scientists…, industry partners…, entrepreneurs…, academics…
and of course…their pets!
This is mine…(picture of Akio’s horse)
Her name is Minnie.
And she’ll fit right in because all transportation in Woven City will be low to zero emission!
That’s because sustainability is one of our major priorities…and we are proud to have received Japan’s first LEED Platinum certification for a community…the highest standard awarded.
We plan to focus on 4 key areas of research and innovation: the mobility of people…goods…information…and energy.
We think of Woven City as a “test course for mobility”…where we can develop any number of solutions…
From personal mobility devices…like a wheelchair racecar…because everybody should experience the joy of going fast!…
to drones that safely escort you home at night…
to interactive pet robots that provide support and companionship for the elderly…
to flying cars like this one…made by our friends at Joby, making the trip from Woven City to Tokyo… fast and traffic free!
And for partners like Joby, we’ve even transformed one of our former factory buildings into a laboratory big enough to house an airplane!
So for any of you inventors out there looking for a really big space to work in…please keep us in mind!
Homes in the Woven City will eventually serve as test sites for future technology such as in-home robotics, to assist with daily life.
In fact, we’re currently developing robots that learn everyday tasks through camera assisted, human demonstration.
For example, folding clothes…is one task we take very seriously in Japan… and Asia for that matter…as you can see…
So here’s one of our team members using hand held cameras to show our robots the Japanese way to fold a t-shirt…and now here’s the robot the next day…after studying the data that was sent to it…it’s learned overnight, how to execute a three-point fold…perfectly!
This is just one example of the kind of technology we imagine being developed and road tested at Woven City.
Autonomy is another…including autonomous logistics and autonomous transportation with our e-Palette.
Now, between you and me…as Toyota’s Master Driver, I’ve personally thought autonomous vehicles were a bit…you know… boring…until our team showed me these two Toyota race cars that drift autonomously….
I mean, as the kids would say…that slaps…and I’m totally here for it!
So autonomous driving will be among the many technologies we intend to develop at Woven City, including Artificial Intelligence.
Among other things, we hope to use AI to help expand the reach of Woven City…allowing people to virtually interact with the city and its projects.
They’re also trying to make a virtual avatar of me at Woven City…but clearly…that’s a work in progress!
I have to say, that from the day we broke ground in 2021…
Woven City has been a true labor of love for our team members at Woven by Toyota…an independent company we created to support this project.
With 2,200 team members…from over 60 different countries around the world….
Woven By Toyota’s mission is to create human centric technologies…expanding mobility…and well-being for all.
This includes a new operating system for cars…called Arene…a Digital Twin platform…which replicates real world environments…and Vision AI…which combines video data analysis with artificial intelligence to better understand the movement behavior of people and objects.
By utilizing both real and digital environments, we aim to accelerate the pace at which new technologies can be tested and developed at Woven City.
Now… I know what you’re thinking…will this Woven City make Toyota any money?
Well… maybe not! But that’s ok.
Because as global citizens, I believe Toyota has a responsibility to invest in our collective future…to share what we’ve learned with others…and support new ideas that benefit the planet and its people.
And that, more than anything else… is why we created Woven City.
It’s also why this summer we’re launching a pitch competition for fully funded “scholarships” to the Woven City for start-ups or individuals who need financial support to bring their ideas to life.
We believe that by combining Toyota’s strengths…with those from different industries…we’ll be able to create new value, new products and new services, we could never achieve on our own.
We think of it as invention by kakezan……or invention by multiplication.
Because when it comes to what’s possible when we work together…the sky’s the limit!
And speaking of sky, we’re exploring rockets too…because the future of mobility shouldn’t be limited to just earth…or just one car company for that matter!
Toyota, if you didn’t know, will soon be celebrating it’s 100th year anniversary…not as a car company…but as the inventor of the world’s first automatic loom.
That’s right.
We didn’t start out by making cars, we began by weaving fabric.
That’s why we think of the future residents of Woven City…as Weavers.
Because much like test drivers for cars…our residents will be the ones who use and experience the new products and services our inventors develop…and will play a critical role in pulling all the threads together.
For me…at its core…Woven City is about collaboration…it’s about the opportunity to weave together diverse points of view, talents and abilities…to create a new kind of fabric for our future.
A future…where we hope to not only move people…but move hearts.
So today, I say…to anyone…in any corner of the world…inspired or excited…to make a difference…make a change…or make it count…please consider this…your official invitation, to join us at Woven City.
Thank you very much.
