{"id":563,"date":"2023-01-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/connect.nissha.com\/design\/en\/?post_type=stories&p=563"},"modified":"2023-08-02T18:48:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T09:48:16","slug":"about-mutech-part-two","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/connect.nissha.com\/design\/en\/stories\/about-mutech-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"For comfortable spaces without information \u201cnoise\u201d overload we introduce Nissha \u201cmutech\u201d solutions (Part Two | Interview)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nissha\u2019s \u201cmutech\u201d<\/a> is a product concept for creating comfortable spaces by controlling excess information (noise) on an interface combining our printing techniques with technology. In this issue, we talked with three of the core members creating this concept, Kuwasaka, Nomura, and Harada, about the background leading up to its release.<\/p>\n

Shintaro Kuwasaka: <\/span>Deputy General Manager | <\/span>Nissha Industrial and Trading (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd
Mark Nomura: Creative Director | Design & CMF Industrial Materials Business Unit Nissha Co., Ltd.
Moonjoo Harada: Business Strategy Marketing | Industrial Materials Business Unit Nissha Co., Ltd.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What led to starting up mutech?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nomura<\/strong>\u3000I was in charge of the process from concept creation to branding.
After considering it with other project members, we settled upon the name \u201cmutech,\u201d but if we trace the mutech concept, of eliminating noise caused by excess information, we arrive back at Mark D. Weiser, known as the father of ubiquitous computing. Weiser, who was a computer scientist, apparently presented the concept of \u201ccalm technology,\u201d a comfortable relationship between people and technology, in a paper from 1996. In the sense of harmonizing people and information technology, mutech has this in common with calm technology. Also, today major overseas home appliance companies are starting to use the term \u201ccalm tech,\u201d so it seems like an idea whose time has come.
I expect you would have felt the same, Mr. Kuwasaka, as one of the people who launched mutech.<\/p>\n

Kuwasaka<\/strong>\u3000Indeed, I did. The idea of bringing people and information technology into harmony senses this need in the form of \u201ca fusion of decoration and function\u201d.
The spur was that five years ago, one of our clients, an automobile manufacturer, wanted to seamlessly integrate information displays into the wood pattern they were using as an accent in their car interior.
Nissha\u2019s dead front technology, where displays can be shown then hidden, had been used before that in home appliances, and we had continued to actively propose it for automobiles. But the demands regarding performance and shape required for creating proposals for automobiles were very strict, and unfortunately, we were not chosen. However, as specific needs from clients in automobile companies came out, we were confident that the need to fuse decoration and function would also come out for automobiles, so we got the rest of the company on board and started development for automobiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kuwasaka<\/strong>\u3000Then of course I enjoy the work of decoration at Nissha.
Interior decorative parts in automobiles (parts that are used mainly for their aesthetic effect) are handled in a special way by clients as elements that create the atmosphere within a car, so rather than deciding to put in an order based only on price or performance, decisions are based on \u201cemotional\u201d design factors that are hard to put figures to, or the client\u2019s aesthetic sense, which I find fascinating.
At the same time, it seemed like there was a trend among some of our clients to use fewer decorative parts in automobile interiors, or even none, making cars cold, mechanical.
But I still want to continue work related to staging, creating spaces. I think as a way to achieve this, the idea was to meet future needs by fusing decoration and function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kuwasaka<\/strong>\u3000The next thing is how to present this concept.
Nissha launched a brand called ecosense that represented environmentally-friendly products, services, and initiatives.
This ecosense expresses Nissha\u2019s vision regarding environmental friendliness in a way that our customers can easily understand.
When I learned about this, I felt that our vision (provided values) that aim at harmony between people and information technology through the fusion of decoration and function should be expressed in a form that customers can easily grasp, and not in the sense of \u201cwe just hope they\u2019ll get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did mutech get its name?<\/h2>\n

Harada<\/strong>\u3000The name \u201cmutech\u201d is a portmanteau of the words \u201cmute\u201d and \u201ctechnology\u201d. I was in charge of its naming, and wanted to create a name that customers around the world would understand, so I talked with Nissha employees both in Japan and overseas a number of times before making the decision. Other proposals included Inn (from the Chinese character \u201cto hide\u201d), Smart, Harmony, and Magic. We came up with quite a variety.
In particular, Inn was proposed by one of our Chinese staff, and it was a serious candidate that came across as a word that expressed the importance of sensing calm even within the big city. However, in English, the word refers to a type of accommodation, and in Japan it might bring to mind ideas of drive-in or drive-inn signs, so it had different meanings in different countries. [Laughs]
So while we were studying the issue, we also got designers from our overseas branches to chime in a number of times. We learned that \u201cmute\u201d is a well understood word by an English speaker. There is also its use in \u201cmuted color,\u201d so this ideas of integration with space is what led to our decision.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Photo: from the left, Kuwasaka, Harada, Nomura<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

What do we want to tell our customers through mutech?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Harada<\/strong>\u3000Our customers are generally suppliers, but by intermixing the clear concept of mutech when we present Nissha\u2019s technology, we can get broad interest from designers, planners, and management as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nomura<\/strong>\u3000The word \u201cbrand\u201d incorporates the meaning of \u201ckeeping the promise we showed to society.\u201d So Nissha responds unstintingly to an attentive presence and people who sympathize with the message of mutech. We want to remain sincere in the message that we present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harada<\/strong>\u3000True. At the same time, I think branding is very important within the company. We are selling our customers the \u201ccomfortable value\u201d of mutech, rather than parts. I think that if we can share that kind of thinking, and if everyone \u2013 engineers, production and administrative staff \u2013 can work to a common goal, motivation will rise, and in the long term, that will form the seeds for new technologies to be born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuwasaka<\/strong>\u3000Even B2B materials manufacturers have brands recognized by the general public, don\u2019t they? For example, in the apparel industry, we have fabric and textile brands. Employees in the companies that make these probably have a sense of contributing to society above and beyond apparel brands, and the general public also can decide to buy high-quality fabric brands or high-performance textile brands.

With mutech, we aren\u2019t expecting to see it as a way to get through to the general public, but Nissha employees can get the feeling of what sort of values they are providing to the general public, what way are they contributing to society. That\u2019s what we are looking at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFERENCE
Mark D.Weiser (American, 1952-1999)
Computer scientist, CTO for Xerox PARC
Amber Case, \u201cCalm Technology: Principles and Patterns for Non-Intrusive Design\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\n
See the first part of the story here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Contact Us <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":582,"template":"","stories-category":[5],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/connect.nissha.com\/design\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories\/563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/connect.nissha.com\/design\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/connect.nissha.com\/design\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/stories"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connect.nissha.com\/design\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/connect.nissha.com\/design\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"stories-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connect.nissha.com\/design\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stories-category?post=563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}