News Release
ORIX Living Innovation Center―A Nursing Care Research, Development and Creation Base
―Opens August 1 in KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL, Grand Front Osaka―
Jul 29, 2013
TOKYO, Japan - July 29, 2013 - ORIX Living Corporation (hereinafter, "ORIX Living"), a subsidiary of ORIX Corporation, today announced the opening on August 1 of ORIX Living Innovation Center, a research, development and creation base designed to match frontline nursing care needs and new business ideas, in KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL, a core facility of Umekita Grand Front Osaka. KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL is run by KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL Association.
ORIX Living Innovation Center has recreated a private room and bathroom built to the same specifications of those in the GOOD TIME LIVING series of private nursing homes managed by ORIX Living. These facilities will allow ORIX Living to share information about actual frontline nursing care issues with manufacturers, research institutes and others without concerns about protecting the privacy of nursing home residents and will also enable ORIX Living to develop and field test equipment that effectively solves these issues. ORIX Living has already started collaborating on development with several partner companies listed below. Looking ahead, ORIX Living will continue to seek a variety of participants to support these development activities.
・NK WORKS Co., Ltd. (Monitoring system using a 3D electronic mat)
・Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (Monitoring and movement support services for seniors)
・Toyota Motor Corporation (Field testing of patient transfer assist systems)
・Muscle Corporation (Field testing of non-wearable patient transfer assist nursing care devices)
・Mizuno Corporation (Research and field testing of products and services for seniors)
・Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Wireless lighting control system linked to temperature and humidity sensors)
By opening this base in KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL, ORIX Living will implement various measures to create and realize new value in the nursing care field. ORIX Living also plans to capture synergies through such means as collaborating with KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL participants.
At present, the nursing care sector faces challenges in terms of conveying actual frontline nursing care needs from nursing care sites to manufacturers developing equipment. This is because there are stringent requirements for conducting field tests out of consideration for ensuring the privacy and safety of nursing home residents. Despite Japan's aging population, the reality is that the daily living environment of seniors and nursing care sites afford very few opportunities for manufacturers and others to conduct field testing of equipment and research that could lead to an improvement in seniors' daily lives. On the other hand, in the Japanese government's economic growth strategy announced in June, the government expressed high hopes for the development of new technologies designed to save labor at nursing care sites, such as nursing care auxiliary robots and other equipment.
ORIX Living has already decided to introduce nursing care lifts at all private nursing homes it manages, in an effort to ease the emotional and physical toll on residents and alleviate caregivers' physical workload. ORIX Living plans to share the insights it will gain by introducing nursing care lifts with many different parties. This will include insights into changes in the emotional well-being of nursing home residents and transformation in the mindset of caregivers. Through these measures, ORIX Living aims to introduce auxiliary equipment that balances both safety and comfort while increasing the wide spread use of this equipment.
With Japan's population aging much faster than the rest of the world, ORIX Living will conduct a full range of activities on a one-stop basis at this new base, ranging from the development of equipment that is truly needed by nursing care sites, to field testing and activities to promote the uptake of this equipment at nursing care sites. Through these efforts, ORIX Living will strive to enhance the quality of life of seniors.
| (1) Name | ORIX Living Innovation Center |
|---|---|
| (2) Address | 8F K840, Grand Front Osaka KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL, Ofuka-cho 3-1, Kita-ku, Osaka City |
| (3) Facility Outline | Floor space 117.64 m2 including to simulated private room and bathroom and presentation room |
| (4)Purpose of Use | Research of nursing care sites, development and field testing of auxiliary equipment, and skills enhancement training |
| (5) Opening | August 1, 2013 |
| Head Office | 2-4-1 Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
|---|---|
| Established | April 1, 2005 |
| Business | (1) Management of for-charge nursing homes, senior housing and other facilities (2) Provision of lifestyle-support services needed at the foregoing facilities (3) Provision of nursing care services (4) Various services related or incidental to the foregoing items (1)-(3). |
| Facility Name | KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL |
|---|---|
| Opened | April 26, 2013 |
| Address | Grand Front Osaka (North Complex) Ofuka-cho 3-1, Kita-ku, Osaka North Complex B2 through F8, and F10 (B-Block), and F13 (C-Block) |
| Total floor space | Approx. 88,200 m2 |
About KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL
KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL, a core facility of Umekita Grand Front Osaka, is a multi-purpose facility designed to create new value from the fusion of human creativity and technology. It aims to create hitherto unseen products and services and tap hitherto unused human resources from the interactions of a wide variety of people, ranging from ordinary consumers to world-class technical experts, corporations, research institutes, and universities. KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL Association and KMO Corporation intend to operate the KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL facility by providing the place (the facility) and the functions (human support) to realize industry creation, cultural introductions, international exchanges, and human resources development at KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL.
Contact Information
ORIX Corporation, Corporate Planning Department
TEL : +81-3-3435-3121 / Fax : +81-3-3435-3154
URL : http://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/
About ORIX
ORIX Corporation (TSE: 8591; NYSE: IX) is an integrated financial services group based in Tokyo, Japan, providing innovative value-added products and services to both corporate and retail customers. With operations in 34 countries and regions outside of Japan, ORIX's activities include corporate financial services, such as leases and loans, as well as automobile operations, rental operations, real estate, life insurance, banking and loan servicing. For more details, please visit our website: http://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/
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These documents may contain forward-looking statements about expected future events and financial results that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and under “4. Risk Factors” of the “Summary of Consolidated Financial Results” of the “Consolidated Financial Results April 1, 2012– March 31, 2013.” |
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