News

Mar-26-2021

  • News Release

Launch of Next-generation Condominium Disaster Preparedness Development Project Utilizing VR  – Daiwa LifeNext Co., Ltd., Rikei Corporation, and Yokohama City enter alliance agreement-

Daiwa LifeNext Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Junko Ishizaki; hereinafter “Daiwa LifeNext”), which is a part of the Daiwa House Group, and Rikei Corporation (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Satoru Isaka; hereinafter “Rikei”) are pleased to announce that they have concluded an alliance agreement regarding the joint research & development of next-generation condominium disaster preparedness content (hereinafter, the “Agreement”) with Yokohama City on March 26, 2021.

Under Yokohama City’s supervision of matters regarding disaster preparedness, we will produce next-generation condominium disaster preparedness virtual reality (VR) content.

VR content

Background behind the Agreement

It is said that more than 6.655 million condominiums are being supplied across Japan, housing approximately 10% of the population. The percentage of owned homes that are condominiums in the Tokyo metropolitan area is higher than the national average, and it is approximately 40% or 391,000 in Yokohama City.

Recently, many disasters have occurred in many areas throughout Japan. It is said that active disaster preparedness activities are required for people living in condominiums as well. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, condominium fire and disaster drills have not been carried out to avoid the three C’s: closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings.

Rikei has decided to enter the Agreement to contribute to a new form of disaster preparedness for condominiums combining the knowledge of solutions to problems encountered in management association activities that Daiwa LifeNext possesses with the VR content production technologies of Rikei.

Overview of the Agreement

Under the Agreement, we will carry out activities as part of Yokohama City’s Co-creation Front public-citizen cooperative project.* The roles of the three parties are as follows:

Organization
name
Role
Daiwa LifeNext Provision of expertise and services related to condominium management
Rikei Development of VR content
Yokohama Provision of specialized knowledge regarding disaster preparedness

*Yokohama City has opened the Co-creation Front to be a contact point receiving requests for consultations and proposals regarding public-citizen cooperation from private operators.

Timing of Service Provision and Future Plans

Our goal is to provide the results of this joint research & development project as a service that can be delivered to the residents of owned condominiums that Daiwa LifeNext is entrusted to manage from July 2021 and will expand it in the future.

We also plan to provide a VR content service for visitors to the Yokohama Disaster Risk Reduction Learning Center. By utilizing the competitive expertise possessed by each company, we will work to provide disaster preparedness activities that go a step beyond for the residents of our managed condominiums and citizens of Yokohama City.

About Daiwa LifeNext Co., Ltd.

Daiwa LifeNext Co., Ltd. supports the lives of people through the management and operation of condominiums, the repair and construction of buildings, livelihood support services, and other activities. It delivers services that embody security, comfort, and things that are one step ahead and will become standard in the future.

Address Akasaka 5-1-33, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Established March 8, 1983
Paid-in-capital 130.1 million yen
Representative Junko Ishizaki, President & CEO
Field of business Management of condominiums, management of building and commercial facilities, etc., construction business, security business, call center business, damage/life insurance agency business, and care service business
URL https://www.daiwalifenext.co.jp/

About Rikei Corporation

Rikei is a solution provider for the IT and electronics industries. The company offers a broad range of solutions centered on the world’s cutting edge technologies and advanced products in the fields of system and network solutions and electronic components and devices. In VR development, the company focuses on technological development for the creation of VR spaces that recreate real spaces. It has provided VR development for disaster drill technologies to more than 300 locations since its launch in 2017. They are employed at automobile manufacturers and other locations.

Headquarters
Address
Shinjuku Nomura Building, 1-26-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0535, Japan
Established June 8, 1957
Capital 3,427 million (as of the end of March, 2020)
President & CEO Satoru Isaka
Field of Business Sales of the following; System Solutions, Network Solutions, Electronic Components & InstrumentsCorporate
URL https://www.rikei.co.jp/en/
Twitter https://twitter.com/rikei_pr

Contact

General Affairs Department, Daiwa LifeNext Co., Ltd. (people in charge: Tajima and Kanezaka)
Tel: +81-50-1745-2233
E-mail:kouhou@dln.jp

 

New Business Promotion Office, Rikei Corporation (people in charge: Ishikawa and Narimatsu)
Tel: +81-3-3345-2146
E-mail:xsg@rikei.co.jp