Pola Orbis’ wandering wonders are the key to open the future
A year ago Pola Orbis Holdings launched their Multiple Intelligence Research Center (or MIRC) to explore new ideas, markets, and visions. We take a look at what interesting findings the research center has yielded so far.
Pola Orbis Holdings began MIRC in January 2018 as a department to take charge of the company’s overall research and development. What made this department unique was that the researchers were given an unprecedented level of freedom for what is usually known as a strict, a Japanese corporation.
The role of the department has been to conduct research with the outlook of the whole Pola Orbis Group in order to build up intellectual property and eventually reap the outcomes of such research back to the group. At the same time, the mission of the department has been to keep tabs on the ever-changing needs of consumers and strengthen partnerships with cutting-edge research institutions in order to respond to those needs.
Noriko Suenobu is the chief of MIRC and says that by taking the volumes of skin research, which Pola Orbis excels at, and combining that with different fields of research, she hopes they can go on to create something useful to society.
Skin research in outer space
One example of their activities has been co-sponsoring the “S-Booster” space-related business ideas competition, which is held by the Japanese Government’s Cabinet Office and NEDO (the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization). MIRC also had their own entries in the 2018 competition, two of which were selected as finalists.
MIRC’s first idea to be selected was about the coexistence of skin and microorganisms in space. By themselves, microorganisms are unable to survive in space, but it’s understood that in space stations microorganisms are able to live on the skin of humans. It’s predicted that they could play an important role when humans become more active in space in the future. The research of the project was about how microorganisms and human skin can be allowed to become compatible with the unique environment of space.
The second idea was called the “Skin Beauty Satellite Forecast”. It was about sensing near-infrared radiation from space* and putting out a report like a weather forecast that can help us better carry out our lives on Earth. Possible applications include the suggestion of alternative routes when near-infrared radiation is particularly strong so that you’re less likely to be exposed to harmful rays when outdoors.
*As near-infrared radiation makes up 50% of the energy from the sun and can reach into the deep recesses of the skin, even to muscles, it is considered to be linked to skin aging.
Suenobu says that either of the ideas “wouldn’t have been thought up just through regular research. They’re ideas that came about through the unlikely combination of skin research and the field of space.” These ideas will of course from here on be considered for application in actual products and services.
Wandering and wondering
Another of MIRC’s activities that embodies their mission to hunt for the seeds of innovation that can bring change to society is the establishment of what they call “roaming researchers”. As their title suggests, these are researchers who journey to different locations around the world to discover new movements and the latest technology related to skin. Currently operating as a team of four researchers (three female and one male), they have the freedom to build hypotheses about particular phenomena occurring anywhere in the world, freely travel to the relevant locations and investigate aspects such as the area’s climate, philosophy, and culture.
For example, take the new trend where the once separate worlds of cosmetics and wellness are crossing their borders and blending together — otherwise known as “athleisure”. The job of the roaming researcher is to sense this trend at an early stage, visit the location where the trend is occurring, and collect and analyze information.
The researchers are given the freedom to go anywhere to conduct whatever research they wish. They fly to all kinds of nations — from superpowers like America and China to small countries such as Georgia — and their meetings are almost always conducted remotely. Suenobu says that the conditions for becoming a roaming researcher include possessing both good scientific knowledge and excellent communication skills for being able to amiably interact with the local peoples of different countries.
And the roaming researchers are bringing in real results. In 2018 Pola Orbis joined the MIT Media Lab Consortium Collaboration (“MIT” as in the Boston University), and Suenobu reveals that through this collaboration “the roaming researchers are acting as mediators to coordinate a co-creation between MIT researchers and researchers at Pola Chemical Industries (another branch within the Pola Orbis Group) to work on unraveling the mysteries of the link between skin and human emotions.”
Discovering the relationship between fine skin and muscles
MIRC is also working on effectively making use of their big data that is based on customers’ skin. In particular, they’ve been looking at what makes some people’s skin clearer and in better condition than others. Some people also get wrinkles while they’re still young, while conversely others have very few wrinkles even at an advanced age. Through a gene analysis based on the big data, it was discovered that what makes skin better-looking and clearer is not so many components in the skin itself but those in muscles.
Having observed the growing trend of athleisure in the fashion industry, the researchers built a hypothesis that proposed there is a connection between people’s skin and how regularly they exercise. It was from this hypothesis that the gene analysis was set in motion. Suenobu says that for MIRC too the research results that revealed the connection to muscles were unexpected, and would have never been discovered had they been limited to just the field of skin studies.
Acting as a link for startups and subsidiaries
From 2018, Pola Orbis Holdings has been investing CVC (Corporate Venture Capital) into startups. MIRC has also been involved in these projects — as well as investing in smart-mirror startup novera, in December they provided capital to Moderato Inc. who are currently expanding their personal styling service “SOÉJU Personal”.
Meanwhile, the results from MIRC’s research and development are being eventually turned into products by the subsidiary companies of Pola Orbis Holdings, but there are also instances of the other way around, where companies in the group approach MIRC to ask if something is possible. MIRC is gradually building up a rich network, including the connections forged by the roaming researchers, and with this network, they’re functioning in the Pola Orbis Group as an all-important link between subsidiaries within the group and experts from all manner of fields. Their potential to take skin research to unprecedented places is definitely more than just skin deep.
Text: Ching Li Tor
Original text (Japanese): Junpei Notomi
