Blockchain EXE San Francisco (part 2)
Presentation summary
This time, we were invited by ConsenSys to present on the title “Smart cities and Blockchain, by Blockchain EXE.”
The presentation included two panelists from Blockchain EXE and two from ConsenSys who spoke about how to use Blockchain technology in smart cities.
1. Blockchain EXE Vice President Yasunori Motani
An introduction on Blockchain EXE was given by the current vice president of Blockchain EXE Motani, who also has experience as the former Blockchain lead at KDDI and as Connectome’s executive director.
As Japan’s top Blockchain community, Blockchain EXE holds events every month in Tokyo. Aiming to bridge the gap between Blockchain industries and companies, it has recently started hosting events with the tech magazine WIRED Japan, holding workshops in Rwanda, and other such events, making it truly a worldwide community.
2. Couger CEO Atsushi Ishii
Ishii explains “Connectome,” a project to create a new interface that connects AI, AR, and Blockchain with society. Along with trying to make AI more trustworthy, this project is working on creating a next-generation user interface; as an example, Ishii talked about using the Virtual Human Agent in smart cities.
The Virtual Human Agent (VHA) being developed is one of the interfaces that exemplifies the autonomous technology of the coming IoT age. It can respond to real-world images and situations, hold conversations, control household appliances ー it’s almost like a human in the way it thinks and communicates. Making an interface that is so similar to a human being will make interactions with its user go much more smoothly, Ishii said.
In addition, he also talked about how new interfaces like the Virtual Human Agent can be used in smart cities.
3. Couger Chief Blockchain Architect Kazuaki Ishiguro
Ishiguro explained Connectome’s projects and the Virtual Human Agent from a technical perspective.
He believes the future of smart cities lies on Blockchain’s decentralized data management, a quality that also gives them more credibility.
He introduced GeneFlow, another project Couger is currently developing, and also talked about how Blockchain technology allows the continuous collection of AI history.
Participants were excited to learn ー through concrete examples ー about all the technological possibilities there are by having the Virtual Human Agent available in smart cities.
Ishii and Ishiguro answered various questions from technical aspects of Connectome’s projects to questions about societal impacts, held an open exchange of opinions with the participants, and even discussed whether China’s centrally monitored society could be considered a type of smart city; it was plain to see that this was a gathering of people truly concerned with improving society. One discussion of particular interest was about how to continue to decentralize using Blockchain. Overall, the topic of smart cities and Blockchain seems one of particular importance to the people of San Francisco.
> Part 3