Fujitsu launches new AI research lab with Macquarie University
Continuing their existing relationship, Fujitsu has co-launched a new artificial intelligence research lab at Macquarie University, with the early aim of developing revolutionary training technology.
In the latest local university-consultancy hook-up, global tech services and consulting firm Fujitsu has partnered with Sydney’s Macquarie University to launch a new artificial intelligence lab, which aims to research and develop AI applications for the healthcare, manufacturing and other sectors.
The collaboration will kick off in earnest next year with a team of embedded Fujitsu researchers, with the first results expected within twelve months.
“The University is honoured to host Fujitsu’s first Small Research Lab in the region,” commented vice-chancellor Stephen Bruce Dowton. “Establishing quality industry collaborations for impact is a key priority for Macquarie University. Partnership projects such as this not only foster groundbreaking research – they also create invaluable opportunities for our students to gain deeper understanding and industry-relevant experience in their chosen fields.”
The first of its kind for the firm in the Southern Hemisphere and just third worldwide, the Fujitsu Macquarie AI Research Lab hosted at Macquarie aims to leverage the university’s advanced research capabilities with Fujitsu’s expertise in generative AI and machine learning to accelerate the development of new applications, with an initial focus on creating personalised digital training technology based on individual skills and expertise.
According to a release, the proposed technology will automatically generate unique educational content to reduce common errors after collecting and analysing an individual’s work behaviour and response time data, applicable in training scenarios across a range of industries. It will be based on Fujitsu’s human sensing technology, which can capture complex actions and behaviors from image analysis and make predictions on the next likely response.
“By testing in a clinical setting at Macquarie Healthcare, clinicians can receive immediate feedback on patient interactions and gain insights on areas of improvement,” stated Sohan Domingo, Fujitsu’s head of innovation for the Asia Pacific. “This immediate feedback loop has the potential to significantly elevate the quality of healthcare services provided and our aim is to lift and shift these learning benefits across other numerous industries.
The two partners point to their credentials: Macquarie having already pioneered projects in a variety of fields such as banking, education, and healthcare to identify new technology applications which address societal challenges, while Fujitsu is noted as holding the largest number of patents for AI-related inventions in Japan, achieving previous commercial breakthroughs using sensing technology including as to customer engagement in retail settings.
“As lifestyles become more diverse, there is a need to provide far greater value to individuals everywhere,” says Shun Takeuchi, a senior researcher at Fujitsu. “Human sensing and personalisation are two technologies that will be key to revealing the complex and varied connections between human behavior and decision-making processes. We believe that collaboration among researchers with different specialties will create synergies that help to open a new frontier.”
