Companies work together with locals, government to promote "living labs"

Companies, research institutes and local governments are working with people across Japan to find solutions to real-life problems, especially loneliness in old age, based on the concept of a "living lab" to promote regional growth.Using a model that is spreading around the world, mainly from Europe, projects and experiments bring together the elderly and the young and involve them in helping to develop products and services intended for their use.Itoki Co., a major office furniture company, recently ran trials of a desk prototype designed for easy home use. Participants who gathered at the …READ FULL ARTICLE