Title | SMILE LOCK OUTLET |
Brand | TOYOTA |
Product / Service | TOYOTA I-ROAD |
Category | G01. Tangible Tech |
Entrant | DENTSU INC. Tokyo, JAPAN |
Idea Creation | DENTSU INC. Tokyo, JAPAN |
PR | DENTSU INC. Tokyo, JAPAN |
Production | DENTSU LIVE INC. Tokyo, JAPAN |
Production 2 | INFORMATION SERVICES INTERNATIONAL-DENTSU, LTD. Tokyo, JAPAN |
Production 3 | JIGOWATTS Kanagawa, JAPAN |
Production 4 | HYT-DESIGN Tokyo, JAPAN |
Additional Company | OMNIBUS JAPAN INC. Tokyo, JAPAN |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Kazuhiro Shimura | Dentsu | Creative Director |
Masayuki Umezawa | Dentsu | Account Executive |
Shun Watanabe | Dentsu | Account Executive |
Takahide Neki | Dentsu | Account Executive |
Kohei Nagoya | Dentsu | Planner |
Yukiya Yamane | Dentsu | Planner |
Tomoki Shibata | Jigowatts | Product Engineer |
Hayato Yamagishi | HYT-DESIGN | Product Designer |
Atsushi Nishikawa | ISID | System Producer |
Tomoko Suzuki | ISID | System Planner |
Michitaka Iida | ISID | System Planner |
Tomoyuki Kato | DENTSU LIVE | Director |
Tatsuya Murayama | DENTSU LIVE | Producer |
Chisako Hasegawa | DENTSU LIVE | Producer |
Tatsuo Yamano | At Armz | Producer |
Eiki Nakamuta | T-LIVE | Producer |
Tomonori Tanami | freelance | Web Designer |
Kazuhisa Ito | freelance | Graphic Designer |
Yuta Nishida | freelance | Photographer |
Ryoko Sugimoto | freelance | Web Writer |
Our idea was to develop a new charging service network. The Smile Lock Outlet is a new IOT outlet module device and service that promotes the use of unused outlets around town. The infrastructure of electricity has been widely in place around town. However, it was impossible for people other than landowners to use because power usage could not be accurately monitored. This networked module automatically collects and tracks usage date in real time, and it enables landowners to share outlets. This device is compact and can be retrofitted to existing outlets. It is, therefore, possible to expand charging stations easily and quickly without building new large-sized facilities. Our strategy will build a society where people can share electricity and provide consumers with a new lifestyle convenience. Toyota Motors can also simultaneously promote their electric vehicles.
We developed the Smile Lock Outlet, implementing a network of the devices around Tokyo over six months, and put unused electrical outlets to use so i-ROAD users could charge their batteries. This IOT device with sensors measures electricity and sends information to the cloud, connecting to a server that verifies who used the power, when they used it, and how much they used. It also helps i-ROAD users monitor the battery through an application. Moreover, it lets users check for availability among many networked outlets. We also developed a reservation function, allowing users to check the availability of the networked outlets and reserve a charging station in advance. The user would also be notified when the battery charging is completed. The Smile Lock Outlet attaches to existing sockets and lets landowners securely share electricity with anyone who needs it through an application.
The result of the six-month trial in central Tokyo was an increase in travel distance through expanding to i-ROAD charging stations. We received praise from users because it compensates for the i-ROAD’s small battery capacity. The desire to purchase the i-Road also increased. Landowners praised us for the added income from unused outlets, which offered a convenience to vehicle users. We were able to discover more potential in the new C2C electricity business. This picture of people charging at unused outlets for cleaners and vending machines showed how innovative our branding was. We are committed to implementing IOT into power outlets, indoors or outdoors. And, in the future, anyone will be able to charge their devices—not only to the i-ROAD. Our goal is to provide convenience by expanding the charging sites and promoting the use of electric vehicles such as the i-ROAD.
The ultra-compact i-ROAD offers a convenient way to get around the city, but because of its size, its battery offers a limited distance on each charge. We wanted to tackle this problem for its users and give them more freedom of mobility. So, rather than looking toward more distance per charge, our strategy was to develop more charging stations that allowed electricity sharing, and not only large stations for the i-ROAD. We wanted to make electricity sharing available at outlets around town that would offer more freedom of movement in the city. We created a new service using IOT power outlets to accurately monitor power usage so landowners could share electricity. We developed the Smile Lock Outlet—the world’s first retrofitted networked outlet module. Then we installed it throughout Tokyo and networked the devices.