JGC Holdings Corporation (Representative Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer: Masayuki Sato) and JGC Japan Corporation (Representative Director and President: Shoji Yamada) announce that we have used our jointly managed corporate venture capital fund (CVC) called the "JGC MIRAI Innovation Fund" to invest in Fairy Devices, a University of Tokyo start-up company working on wearable devices equipped with voice-recognition AI to reduce the burden on workers in the field.

In recent years, the complexity of work processes in the industrial sector has been increasing, while the aging and retirement of skilled workers has led to a loss of skills and technology, and an increase in the workload on workers.

Against this backdrop, Fairy Devices is developing and offering wearable devices that are lightweight and can be worn around the neck, and are equipped with AI that enables clear voice recognition even in various noisy environments. This device is equipped not only with a microphone and camera, but also with Wi-Fi and 4G LTE communication standards, so that skilled workers in distant locations can issue instructions to workers in real time based on audio and video data. In addition, it is also possible to collect audio images data on site and automate the creation of work evidence and reports. In addition, the company is considering the development of "skilled AI," a future function that will allow AI to analyze the instructions of skilled workers and communicate directly with them, which is expected to help reduce the burden on workers on site.

Making use of the CVC Fund, the JGC Group plans to invest in domestic and foreign start-ups with innovative technologies and business models that will contribute to building a safe, secure, and sustainable social system. The themes to be targeted for investment are "realizing a carbon neutral economy," "building sustainable and resilient infrastructure," "enhancing lifestyle quality while looking ahead to the 100-year-life society," and "making industries smart."

Through this investment, JGC Japan will be able to provide work evidence and various types of reports at plant and facility construction sites and at maintenance, diagnostic, and other work sites. In addition to promoting the automated recording of work-site evidence and various types of reports by voice and video input instead of the traditional paper-based system, the system also facilitates remote support for skilled workers and other personnel and thus creating improved productivity of on-site work. In addition, by utilizing this terminal at various sites, we will collect and analyze data for the implementation of "skilled AI" and contribute to the promotion of DX in the plant construction industry.

From now on, the JGC Group will invest in start-ups with innovative technologies and business models that are expected to contribute to building a safe, secure, and sustainable social system.

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