As a creative entertainment company, Sony seeks to use AI technology to unleash the potential of human creativity.
For artists and creators who produce entertainment,
this means supporting efforts to raise their creativity to the next level.
And for people who enjoy entertainment, Sony aspires to transform their lifestyles.
Our AI innovations will create new culture which brings more inspiration to people's lives.
Sony is also breaking into new fields like agriculture, medicine, and education with initiatives
for a sustainable society on the global scale.
Sony's AI Technology
Sensing technology acquires various information, analyzing the data, and based on the analyzing results mechatronics technology outputs it as movement,
and AV technology outputs it as video and audio.
Using the cutting edge AI technology, Sony has developed through its products and services to date, inimitable innovations are made possible.
When Sony's AI technology is translated into products and services, it functions as closely as possible to the users in real time, expands their creativity, and spurs the evolution of lifestyles that seek enjoyment from entertainment.
Sony has begun investigating applications in fields integrally connected to everyday living and social life-that is, an array of fields rooted in the real world.
Initiatives
AI x CreativityExpanding creativity
Sony intends to use AI technology to expand the creativity of artists and creators
in an effort to move people emotionally throughout the world.
Providing new means of expression enables completely new creative activities.
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Yuki Mitsufuji Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 1, R&D Center
Sony CorporationThe freedom to extract audio gives you the freedom
to create new musicAudio source separation
Yuki Mitsufuji Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 1, R&D Center
Sony CorporationAI that understands the characteristics of music can be used to extract and rearrange individual instruments from music that consists of a mix of sounds. This makes it possible to create multitrack data from old records, for example. This gives artists the freedom to create completely new music, and to give listeners musical experiences the likes of which never existed before.
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Tatsuya Yamori Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
Supporting musicians' creativity
Flow Machines
Tatsuya Yamori Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
Flow Machines is a research and development project that Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (Sony CSL) provides the technical assistance for aiming to expand musicians' creativity in music. Musicians' creativity is supported through Flow Machines Professional, an AI-assisted songwriting tool that gives musicians the freedom to create melodies in various styles.
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Michael Spranger AI collaboration office
Sony Corporation
Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (Sony CSL)Exploring new possibilities in cooking with robotics
AI x Cooking
Michael Spranger AI collaboration office
Sony Corporation
Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (Sony CSL)This is a project to expand chefs' creativity and explore new possibilities in cooking. We will advance the science of the five senses and create new cuisine by encouraging cooperation between humans and robots, introducing many kinds of sensing technologies to the field of cooking, and promoting analysis of the senses of sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch.
AI x LifestyleRealizing lifestyles full of emotion
Sony's AI technology will provide completely new forms of entertainment and
make everyday life richer and more fun.
These new lifestyles are sure to fill people with emotion.
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Takuma Morita AI Robotics Business Group
Sony CorporationCreating lifestyles where robots and humans make emotional connections
aibo
Takuma Morita AI Robotics Business Group
Sony Corporationaibo is an autonomous entertainment robot for the home, designed to grow as it is showered with love as a member of the family. As it interacts with people, aibo gains an understanding of them and takes part in a two-way communication of feelings with them. People naturally open their hearts to aibo's lovable behavior, which brings delight to the everyday lives of its owners.
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Yu Kimishima · Shinichi Inoue Software Technology Div.1, Digital Imaging Group
Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc.Photography just got a whole lot more fun
Real-time Eye AF
Yu Kimishima · Shinichi Inoue Software Technology Div.1, Digital Imaging Group
Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc.Real-time Eye AF makes it possible to shoot like a professional photographer, with perfect focus on the eye in the split-second when the subject-even a challenging subject like a child on the move-turns to face the camera. Furthermore, deep learning made Real-time Eye AF compatible with animals as well. Real-time Eye AF will change your everyday life with your camera.
AI × Social AgendaContributing to humanity and society
Sony has begun to expand the application of its AI technology into various fields beyond entertainment.
We strives to help people face global-scale problems that are difficult to solve through human thinking alone, in order to create a happy future for humanity and to contribute to the development of a sustainable society.
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Masatoshi Funabashi Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (Sony CSL)
Creating abundant ecosystems through new agricultural methods
Synecoculture
Masatoshi Funabashi Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (Sony CSL)
Synecoculture is an approach by Sony CSL in which ecosystems are artificially created for cultivating a rich variety of crops while also enriching local biodiversity. Proving tests conducted in Japan and sub-Saharan Africa have already yielded substantial results. We intend to harness the power of AI to understand complex ecosystems that are too difficult for the human mind alone to comprehend, and apply the findings to further initiatives.
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Masaaki Isozu President
Sony Global Education, Inc.Combining AI and blockchain to change social systems
Blockchain
Masaaki Isozu President
Sony Global Education, Inc.Blockchain technology has drawn attention for its immense possibilities, and holds promise for accelerating innovation in Sony's businesses and services as well. The ability to safely manage, share, and circulate massive amounts of data will lead to the creation of new value.
Open Innovation
Collaborating with partners to create the future
The world Sony seeks to create with AI technology requires more than just our own efforts.
Thus, we have already begun to collaborate with technology companies, researchers, universities, and many other institutions.
We are expanding our network of like-minded colleagues with the aim of realizing a society filled with inspiration.
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Daniela Braga Founder and CEO, DefinedCrowd Corp.
A platform for providing high-quality training data
DefinedCrowd
Daniela Braga Founder and CEO, DefinedCrowd Corp.
Machine-learning algorithms and massive learning datasets are essential in developing technologies on the front lines of AI; high-quality annotation and labeling being especially important. However, typically available datasets are poor in quality, and it takes a lot of time for data scientists to internally process and organize them.
The Sony Innovation Fund has invested in DefinedCrowd, a startup that provides a data platform to collect and organize training data for developing AI technologies, using their own machine learning algorithms, automated tools, and a specialized human-in-the-loop community through their Neevo platform. Crowdsourcing features such as real-time monitoring of suspicious activity, verification steps after data is collected, and a robust reputation system ensure data delivered is of the highest quality. -
Henny Admoni Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Efforts to make AI and robots a more familiar presence, starting in the kitchen
Carnegie Mellon University
Henny Admoni Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Sony are collaborating on research into food preparation and delivery coordinated among humans, AI, and robots. The research is aimed at developing the technologies necessary for the entire pipeline of food service, from analyzing recipes to food preparation, cooking, presentation, and delivery. The work aims to create initial prototypes of robots that implement these technologies, such as "chef robots" that chop and cook food in a kitchen, and "server robots" that analyze the behavior of patrons in a restaurant to provide service at the appropriate times. Through this project, Sony and CMU hope to make AI and robotics more familiar and accessible to the general public, and instrumental to humanity's future, as a fundamental part of society.
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A new form of open innovation
Sony Innovation Fund
With the aim of creating a better society and future, Sony provides its expertise in support of startups capable of conceiving and acting on unique ideas that go beyond the bounds of common knowledge, rather than simply focusing on business potential.
Sony group AI ethics guideline
Ethical Guidelines for AI
As members of a group with global businesses spanning a wide range of industries, the Sony Group companies have adopted an AI Ethics Guideline, which reflects Sony's Purpose, "Fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology". Currently there are many conversations being held about the influence of AI on society. Through the power of AI, Sony is seeking to contribute to a peaceful and sustainable society and to fill people with emotion.
