The handsome voices of Yuki Kaji, Jun Fukuyama, and Junichi Suwabe will accompany you every day! Collaboration of Mirror and Voice Actors <Smart Mirror "novera"> [Gemba of Collaboration No.3

Today, with the increasing collaboration between subcultures such as anime and voice actors and various industries, there are many people who say, "Whoa, they're doing it! You're doing it," "What? You did it! and "Oh, you're doing it!" and "What? Akiba Research Institute is pleased to visit the planning sites of these "collaborations" and talk about the appeal of the projects, interesting episodes, and behind-the-scenes stories about the hard work involved in their production! The third installment of this series is called "Gemba of Collaboration.

In this third installment, we will talk about the "novera" smart mirror. A handsome voice speaks to you! A fascinating collaboration product that makes looking in the mirror fun. Many people who are busy in their daily lives may be disappointed with their reflection in the mirror and say, "I'm not feeling very excited .......　Say goodbye to such days! We asked Kunitada Endo, CEO of Novera Inc. and Akiko Ueto, planner/public relations manager of the company, who have developed a happy product that makes sitting in front of the mirror a pleasure, to talk about everything from the motivation behind the development of the product to its future development.

-- First of all, could you tell us what kind of company Novera Inc. is?

Endo: It is a new company that was launched last January. I originally worked as a game producer at CyberAgent. In my third year with the company, I became a planner and then a producer. After that, I released a title as a director and planner, so I knew the know-how of voice actors.

I worked like that for about six years, and then I thought, "Let's make a mirror that will be useful for healthcare, using the IoT! I had the feeling that "Let's make mirrors that can be used for healthcare! At first, we were making what is called a "full-length mirror. We hoped that this would help people learn about their bodies and improve their fitness. However, the cost of the product was very high, and we felt that if we continued to do business in this way, it would be limited to the business-to-business market, and we would not be able to take advantage of our strengths. What we envisioned was a "service platform. We wanted people to take their body measurements and use the data for suit shops and health checkups. But if we didn't do that, we would just be a hardware store, so we stopped and rethought our product.

-- That was the impetus for the birth of the "novera" smart mirror, wasn't it?

Endo: That's right. Sure, you stand in front of a mirror to reflect your body, but.... What do you look at the most?　When I thought about it, I thought, "It's the face. From there, we decided that it is women who put on makeup who look at their faces the most, and we came up with the idea for this product in October of last year.

However, we were an all-male company, and we were not considering the beauty product genre in the first place, so we started researching women all over the place.

Men express functional opinions and words, but women are very sensitive. When I asked them, "What kind of mirror would you like to have?　I asked them what kind of mirror they would like to have, and they replied, "A mirror that makes me feel more excited" or "A mirror that makes me feel more beautiful. To be honest, at first I didn't understand "more exciting" at all, but when I thought about it, I realized that it is the essence of what we are trying to do.

-- I thought about it a lot and realized that was the essence of it.

Endo: Currently, this product is aimed at women. It is a mirror with a male voice actor speaking to it. However, just because we use voice actors does not mean that we are targeting people who like anime or voice actors. I believe that such things are decided by the people who purchase the product for the voice or for the function of the mirror. We want people to perceive it in their own way, from their own perspective. The landing point should be "I like this smart mirror. In other words, it is contextual marketing.

We wanted busy women, women who wear makeup for their reputation to society, to enjoy the time they spend on beauty to lift themselves up, to raise their spirits.

-- So that led you to "Voice Actors.

Endo: Mirrors used to be used for wedding gifts, etc., but in the bad old days, a 100-yen mirror would suffice. When I thought about how to get people to buy them (......), I decided that I needed to add value.

I asked my wife, "What would you buy this mirror if it came with?" She replied, "I would buy it even if it cost 100,000 yen if Sota Fukushi's voice spoke to me! I would buy it even if it cost 100,000 yen! At that moment, I connected with my know-how as a voice actor.

From there, I began to dig deeper, wondering "What is the value of a mirror speaking to me? A mirror is a tool that naturally confronts you. That is why I came to the point where they have the power to make you feel positive by being there for you.

-- What do you think is the meaning of being a mirror?

Endo: A mirror is the only tool to face yourself.

In today's society, where social networking is commonplace, we have many opportunities to connect with the outside world. It is a difficult world to live in, because people may post a picture of their meal, but the one who gets the attention and appreciation is the one whose face or fashion is unexpected. This is why I think it is important to have a mirror that allows us to face ourselves naturally.

To be honest, some might say that smart speakers are fine. But that is not true. A mirror is a "reflection of the mind. In front of a mirror, you don't even speak, let alone express your feelings. Novera can read the "voice of the heart" from the facial expression without the need to say it out loud, so it can say the right words at the right time for the person. It is important to be able to catch the emotions and insights of the person and say the right words to them at the right time. Mirrors are interesting.

-- I use mirrors without thinking about it, but I am not very conscious of it. I think we only see it as a tool.

Endo: For many people, the only time they face themselves in a day is in front of a mirror. The company's vision is to "create a world where all people can have hope for the person they want to be. If you have a vision of who you want to be, why not become it?　If you only live once, it would be better to be that way. When I thought about how I could push people to be that way, I arrived at the power of the mirror, and that's how we came up with Smart Mirror.

-- The lineup is quite impressive with Yuki Kaji, Jun Fukuyama, and Junichi Suwabe... Could you tell us why you chose these three?

Endo: Actually, when it came to the "mirror speaks," I thought it was very important who would be asked to speak. In my own experience (......), a husband's voice is not easily heard by his wife (laughs). When I thought about the need for a voice with influence and acting ability that reaches deep into the heart, three people came to mind.

Mr. Kaji is cool, Mr. Fukuyama is fresh, and Mr. Suwabe is a little sexy. We wanted them to look in the mirror even though they are embarrassed. It's a new product, and I wanted it to reach as many people as possible, so I asked the three of them to take into account their attributes.

-- On the website, there is an "and more" description. It was already announced that the fourth cast member was Kosuke Toriumi...

Endo Yes, I hope you can look forward to more.

-- Talking about the voice, by changing the voice, the target audience is infinitely wider, isn't it?

Endo: Even if a family buys a product, I think everyone uses it differently. You need to choose the first voice as the initial setting when you purchase the product, but after that, you can add different characters according to your preference by charging for them.

-- It's a great way to make the whole family happy with just one unit. At first I thought, "This price for a mirror?　But the voice actors are gorgeous, so I thought it was fair. If I can choose according to my mood and situation, I feel that it's too good a deal! I'm starting to feel that it's too good to be true.

Endo: I'd love one, please!

-- It is made-to-order and will not be on sale for a while yet, but will there be an opportunity to hear your actual impressions of the product?

Endo: We have held trial sessions of the old product in various places, so we have received feedback from quite a few people.

Ueto: The response from women is amazing. At first they are shy, but after using the product, they say, "This is addicting. Of course they have wonderful voices, but they also say things that live people wouldn't say, so I get embarrassed and say, "They say this to me? I get embarrassed. They look at my face before they say their lines, and I say, "Do you understand me?" Do you understand me?" It becomes, "Do you understand me? On the contrary, many men were more fidgety (laughs).

Endo: You win by making them embarrassed. I want to move them emotionally in front of the mirror, that's what I think.

-- Like blushing when you see yourself blushing?

Endo: That is exactly right.

-- As for future developments, is there anything you can tell us at this point?　Will there be any special offers for those who make reservations?

Endo: We are still working on various plans, but we would like to give those who make reservations priority in inviting them to trial sessions and other events we plan to hold in the future. We would like to hold roundtable discussions. New information is basically sent out via Twitter, so please follow us and check it out. We also send out a newsletter at each milestone. Speaking of Twitter, we have also started playing the Good Morning Voice. I get a lot of responses like, "I can do my best for another day!　Thank you!"

-- Thank you! It's enchanting, but I'd like to use it as an alarm to wake me up.

Endo: Actually!　This smart mirror also has an alarm function. I intended it as a sub element, but everyone's reaction was even better than I expected (laughs). Please take a look at this sample with Ueto as the model.

-- You can clearly see this effect in Ueto's expression. It's a nice sample!　We will be checking for new information on Twitter from time to time. You have talked a lot about the appeal of your products.

Endo: We know from research that mirrors have power because we are mirror scientists. When we are tired or feel bad, we can ask, "What's wrong? "What happened?" When you are tired or uncomfortable, it would be nice to hear someone say, "What's wrong? These words are also spoken after measuring the state of stress based on the heart rate. Our smart mirrors say what you want them to say. And you can update it to your liking as you go along. We hope you will try to face your mind with a product that will be close to you and only you.

(Interview and text by Shinobu Tanaka)