Panasonic House at SXSW 2017 Showed Off the Power of Open Innovation

Austin, TX, U.S. - Panasonic Corporation took part in South by Southwest 2017 (SXSW), showing off working models of several next-generation business concepts developed by young intrapreneurs and incorporating external development resources through an open innovation approach. These concepts were shown at the Panasonic House, open March 11-14, 2017, as part of the festivities. SXSW is one of the largest digital interactive events in the world, with over 70,000 people taking part in the Interactive, Music and Film event held in Austin, Texas, USA, March 10 to 19, 2017.

The prototypes covered three categories - Food, Wellness, and Lifestyle - and considered "the future of home appliances toward 2025," taking into account the evolution of AI, IoT, and robotics. Each new business idea and prototype was developed by a separate team through Panasonic's "Game Changer Catapult," a project which encourages employees' open innovation and external collaboration for new development. By showcasing these prototypes at SXSW, each team could receive valuable feedback from visitors as well as find future partners, to help gauge the public's reaction, reexamine their prototypes, and move forward with commercialization. The Panasonic House even included an informal voting process to see which prototype intrigued visitors the most.

Collaboration with Parsons School of Design: Göbie and Sleepwise

The Ferment

With rising interest in health and beauty benefits, fermented foods are attracting wide attention. This smart fermentation cooking kit and service package enables anyone to enjoy delicious home-fermented foods easily, with optimum temperature and control for each specific ingredient.

DeliSofter

Panasonic proposes a cooking appliance to soften home-cooked meals, even those such as meat and fish, while keeping the appearance and taste. This concept model enables those with dysphasia or swallowing disorders due to age or injury to eat delicious meals with their families without separately preparing liquid or special-care food.

Bento@YourOffice

In cooperation with a service partner, Panasonic developed a service model to provide healthy, delicious, nutritionally balanced lunches for each customer on the go at work. While using an app to track meals and make payments, monitoring systems track stock, temperature and power supply of the smart lockers.

SakeCooler

By inserting a Japanese sake bottle into this cooler, not only is the sake chilled to the optimal temperature, but you can see detailed information on the brewery as well as recommended foods or recipes. Finally, the machine proposes other sakes matching user's preferences.

AMP (Ambient Media Player)

Meant not as a home appliance but as part of the home's interior, AMP is a sophisticated combination of curated audiovisual content to enhance the value of any living space. This media player provides high quality content to match the atmosphere of mood of both living and public spaces including the office, hotels and restaurants.

MonStyle

Rather than relying on the dry cleaners for your favorite clothes, wash them at home with ease. By hanging a piece of your favorite clothing in the MonStyle, you can clean it without worrying about wrinkles and fraying, and you can add effects such as your favorite fragrance or additional UV protection.

CaloRieco

To remove the burdens of those with daily dietary management needs, such as patients with diabetes, CaloRieco quickly scans the ingredients of cooked dishes and then measures the calories and nutritional make-up. Near-infrared ray analysis technology has made it possible to measure calories in about ten seconds (test result), as opposed to the conventional method requiring tens of minutes.

Social Appearance Coaching Device

Focusing on mind and body health, this device considers body posture, voice, gestures, and stress data to coach adults trying to improve their confidence and communication skills. Panasonic developed this wearable equipment service for the wellness field based on an idea from hackathons with universities and research institutes in the US.

Guitar Hero - Interactive Air Guitar

Panasonic House @ SXSW2017 Exhibition Overview

About South by Southwest (SXSW)

South by Southwest is one of the world's largest exhibitions for interactive, film, and music industries held every year in March in Austin, Texas (USA). It began back in 1987 as a music festival, and in 1994 the film and interactive categories were introduced. In particular, the interactive category has significant global influence. It has become a gateway for startups, and many companies and investors have shown great interest in the event. Some ICT services that have received the grand prize in the interactive category are now being used across the world.