From the Department of Dramatically Underappreciated Socioeconomic Cornerstones comes Canon U.S.A., the Melville-based subsidiary of Japanese imaging giant Canon Inc. boasting billions in annual revenues and roughly 6,200 employees. To maintain those loft numbers, Canon U.S.A. is in constant innovation overdrive, forever anticipating technological “new normals” and racing ahead of the curve. To that end: the ultra-intuitive AMLOS (for Activate My Line of Sight) hybrid-collaborative solution and the coming-soon Kokomo VR application, both sprouting from “an exciting shift from our normal innovative process,” according to Canon U.S.A. Vice President Shinya Fukuda, the subsidiary’s general manager of corporate planning. Fukuda credits the new tech to the vision of Canon U.S.A. President and CEO Kazuto Ogawa – and heralds a “charge toward making the new normal possible.”
Leading man: Kazuto “Kevin” Ogawa is someone who puts people first. He recognized that [coming out of the pandemic], we needed to look at innovation from the ground up.
Reading the room: While everyone in a multitude of industries was speculating about what the “new normal” would look like, we wanted to shape our innovation and new technology around meeting people’s needs – as opposed to pushing out new technology and asking the public to shape their needs and lives around it.
In-house: Fortunately, we were confident in our knowledge that our direct network of employees, customers and strategic partners represents a great cross-section of the public. Mr. Ogawa established a series of committees that were tasked with surveying and analyzing the needs of a range of markets.
Shinya Fukuda: Intuition mission.
New ballgame: This was a different innovation process, mostly because the pandemic was a situation unlike any other. During unprecedented times, the worst thing a company can do is rely on what worked before.
Some things never change: While the process may have been different, our innovative focus always remains the same and is aligned with our corporate philosophy: Kyosei, which translates to, “All people regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future.”
Thinking big: While most initiatives require us to conduct industry-specific market research … this time around our employees were part of the group directly impacted by this massive social change. If we could bring a technology to market that would meet their needs, we also knew there was the ability to offer technology that could meet the needs of the greater public – regardless of industry.
Survey says: People need a seamless integration of the in-person and remote experience, personally and professionally. The results were the AMLOS and Kokomo solutions.
Made in the USA: The process and solutions were developed and produced by Canon U.S.A., not Canon Inc. This is truly our initiative and our innovation. Many people in the company had a hand in putting it together, and we are incredibly proud of the capabilities and the value they will provide.
Go team: ID8 Innovation Consulting worked with the AMLOS team [and] helped with the effort to document potential problem areas and craft solutions that addressed those potential issues. They also informed us that customers are quick to understand the value that the AMLOS solution can bring to them, because it was built to address specific problems experienced by hybrid teams.
By the people: Coincidentally, we had a shift in leadership at the start of the pandemic, as Mr. Ogawa took the reins right as offices were beginning to shut down in 2020. Just as this technology was developed, Canon U.S.A. took a very bottom-up, employee-driven approach to responding to the pandemic. We took their lead.
For the people: We are confident that our findings from this innovative process will yield a positive result. It’s our job as innovators to bring technology to market that meets people’s needs. We feel as though the AMLOS solution checks those boxes.
Being there: The world of entertainment and interpersonal connection was one of the things that changed the most amid the pandemic. We have all spent the past few years meeting virtually as if we were in the same room. The next step is virtually going to Hawaii together, for example, and have it feel as if we were actually there.
Kokomo-a-go-go: The Kokomo solution is being designed so that people can feel together and experience social interaction from their home, hotel, dorm room or across other distances if there is an Internet connection. It truly is innovation come to life.
Hitting the mark: We received rave reviews when we exhibited these technologies at CES and other trade shows in a range of industries. Additionally, AMLOS earned a 2023 Best of Innovation award from CES for the Software and Mobile Apps category, where it was cited for its ability to harness the power of Canon’s image processing technology that is being designed to help create an immersive hybrid work experience.
Mission accomplished: Rather than asking ourselves what could make this technology better, we asked how has your life changed? What are the challenges you’re facing? What do you need to make your life better? As a global technology leader, we knew that we needed to be a leader in the charge toward making the new normal possible – both during and coming out of the pandemic.
Interview by Gregory Zeller
