It will be fun to try to predict exactly what a technologically advanced future society will look like. What will we be able to achieve? There may be no limits to this.

We may imagine a future where everyone has their own robot or virtual character which they may use as their own Alter Ego, or 'Avatar'. We may be able to do so much more in a digital world and in ‘real life’; real life as we know it now.

　You may not think much about it when you go shopping or conduct your personal business at your local government office, for example; but you are probably acting on your own initiative. However, when an avatar robot or virtual character performs these various activities on your behalf, it is actually very important to always be able to check who is operating the robot or character and whether or not its actions are the same as the desires, thoughts and ideas of you as the owner.

　If your autonomous avatar robot can do another job while you go to school, college, or work, then your precious time can be used more effectively. The use of such avatars may also solve the problems associated with a declining workforce in Japan. However, in this regard, we will have to re-think everyday concepts such as 'attendance', 'working hours' and even 'presence' and the rules based on them.

　Our team of experts in ‘authentication technology’ and ‘security’, as well as our experts in the fields of law, economics, environment, ethics and society, are at this very moment working together, in tandem, to create the mechanisms for a society in which we can live with avatars at our disposal.

So, let’s work together to ensure that our research will contribute to such a prosperous, avatar-assisted, co-beneficial future society.