SMILE LOCK OUTLET

Short List
TitleSMILE LOCK OUTLET
BrandTOYOTA
Product / ServiceTOYOTA I-ROAD
CategoryG01. Tangible Tech
EntrantDENTSU 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

Credits

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

The Campaign

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.

Creative Execution

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.

Links

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