AKXY POD’s International Debut at CES 2022 – Asahi Kasei Offers a Glimpse into the Future of Comfort, Clean Tech, and Safety in Your Car and Home

Asahi Kasei, a diversified Japanese multinational company, is gathering its industry experts and thought leaders from around the world for CES 2022 in January, when their prototype vehicle interior of the future, AKXY POD, will make its debut for the first time outside of Japan. Packed with proprietary innovations, this prototype will allow visitors to experience the comfort, clean technology, and safety in the vehicles of tomorrow as well as illustrate how automobiles will fully evolve into our third living space. In addition, we will be providing a glimpse into innovations that will compose all aspects of our future living spaces both on and off the road.

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Asahi Kasei’s concept of growing continuously together with our customers is described along with the evolution of the AKXY™ concept car series that symbolizes our passion for the automotive sector. AKXY POD is the amalgamation of countless Asahi Kasei textiles, resins, sensors, and other proprietary technologies into a pod where visitors can experience the future automotive interior space with all senses. (Photo: Business Wire)

Asahi Kasei, Asahi Kasei Microdevices, and Asahi Kasei Homes invite you to booth #52833 for a CES experience to remember. The innovations on display showcase Asahi Kasei’s ability to keep society clean and safe, so we will naturally be taking the utmost precaution to deliver an interactive experience with cleanliness and safety as top priorities for visitors to our booth.

Asahi Kasei CES 2022 Booth Details

Experienceable Innovations

1. AKXY POD

Asahi Kasei’s concept of growing continuously together with our customers is described along with the evolution of the AKXY™ concept car series that symbolizes our passion for the automotive sector. AKXY POD is the amalgamation of countless Asahi Kasei textiles, resins, sensors, and other proprietary technologies into a pod where visitors can experience the future automotive interior space with all senses.

- Comfortable, Safe, and Clean

Automotive interiors of tomorrow will be molded by a wide range of technologies our booth visitors can experience that redefine comfort. AKXY POD is composed of proprietary textiles and engineering plastics that can significantly dampen sounds while reducing the vehicle’s overall weight to create a cabin atmosphere with optimized comfort. In addition, automotive interiors will need to be safe and clean, which is made possible from the products of our Healthy Car Portfolio. Our vehicles will have Ultraviolet-C (UVC) LEDs from Crystal IS in HVAC systems to clean the air we breathe and other safety innovations like our touch-free alcohol sensor from Senseair can be seamlessly implemented into the vehicle to detect alcohol on the driver’s breath in a matter of seconds, exceeding automotive OEM requirements. These safety exhibits are too small to see, so they will be showcased separately from the AKXY POD.

- Other automotive interior technologies presented separately

Asahi Kasei Microdevices will be featuring a number of other technologies that will redefine automobiles of the future, like their hands-free digital sound processor, AK7707, and active noise cancelling solutions featuring Silentium technology.

2. Real-time health monitoring automotive cockpit

- This “Biological information measurement system” allows our CES 2022 booth attendees to monitor their heartbeat and breathing live without physical contact. By installing a thin electrode into the car seat, the system detects important physical information related to the driver, such as drowsiness or if a child has been left in an unattended car, without any functional or aesthetic obstructions.

3. Japanese capsule dispenser cultural experience

- Experience a tidbit of Japanese culture through the “gacha-gacha” capsule dispenser to commemorate your visit to Asahi Kasei’s booth at CES. Built around our philosophy of “Care for Earth, Care for People,” this attraction will provide insight into Asahi Kasei Homes’ innovations and efforts to make our world more sustainable.

Other transformative technologies on display

Asahi Kasei Homes strives for a new ideal for smart homes through digital technology in the age of IoT. These home solutions provide a new way of living with sensor technology and data platform construction at its core.

1. IoT innovations for the modern home

- Smart Cloak Gateway

This system allows even small, restricted spaces to have customizable security levels. Built around convenience, this system can let visitors, like delivery people or housekeepers, into a secure area that allows limited access to the home while you are away. This system has the scalability to work with a variety of new services that will evolve the definition of futuristic automated services for your home.

- Smart Comfortable House

The system takes predictive measures based on the level of insulation in the home, the size of windows, and the overall layout of the rooms to control many aspects of the living space such as room temperature, the amount of sunlight that gets into the room, the amount of ventilation, and more. In addition, the system can manage temperatures for optimal prevention of viral reproduction and many other aspects that will make your environment as comfortable as it can possibly be.

- Smart Healthcare

This system includes multiple sensors in various objects we interact with around the home that can detect occupants’ movement as well as collect data about the occupants’ vitals as a means to monitor health conditions and provide feedback in a non-invasive manner. Through the interconnectivity of multiple devices, receiving a more personalized approach to medical advice becomes possible.

2. Monitoring innovations

- Air quality monitoring

As a measure for virus prevention or monitoring the air quality within high-risers or other buildings of high altitude for health or optimal work performance, the importance of indoor air circulation is becoming widely recognized. While CO₂ levels are a valid indicator for when air should be circulated, it must have a portable battery drive and be small enough to be easily installed. Senseair’s CO₂ sensor solution makes this possible.

- Millimeter-wave radar health monitoring

Air conditioners need to be smarter so that they can adjust the airflow based on the number of people in a room, their location, and their physical condition. When using a millimeter-wave through clear plastic, AC units can become smarter without impacting the external appearance of its design. AKM’s millimeter-wave radar ICs with high-distance resolution and directional accuracy can improve the ability to identify objects and detect the breathing rates of people in the room.

- Ultra-low energy consumption sound monitoring

Monitoring sound with a low consumption of energy is challenging because it requires a continuous stream of data. However, AKM has developed a product, AK5706, that has made sound monitoring with an ultra-low energy consumption a reality. This system responds to arbitrary audio to activate the system only when it senses a sound so that the entire system can consume less power through continuous monitoring. As a result, this technology will accelerate monitoring through sound to countless new applications.

3. Innovations for a clean and safe living space

- UVC LED, “Klaran™”

The use of UVC LEDs for protecting surfaces from viruses, cleaning air conditioning units, introducing UV anti-virus functionality to current systems, and more, has never been more widespread. Asahi Kasei provides the best UVC LED modules for surface and air disinfection that are the perfect solution for any places that need to remain virus-free.

- Olfactory “smell” sensor

Smell data is a challenge to quantify because it cannot be seen with our eyes, heard with our ears, or touched, so existing sensors like cameras, microphones, or touch sensors cannot capture it. Up until now, we have had to rely on the subjective judgements from humans or other animals when evaluating “smell.” Asahi Kasei’s olfactory sensor can sense “smell” information, digitize it, and then utilize it in a variety of ways like monitoring environments, production processes, or health care. Just like a mammal, Asahi Kasei’s smell sensor is made up of numerous different responsive membranes that make high quality assessments based on an object or a location’s “smell.”

The technologies on display at CES 2022 are among a handful of innovations that represent Asahi Kasei’s commitment to “Creating for Tomorrow.” We are promoting multifaceted businesses and the diversity of our workforce through the key concepts of connecting within and outside of the company to promote our values: “Care for People, Care for Earth.” We are also dedicated to the creation of new businesses, a new level of global progression, and the development of sustainable solutions around the world. Through customer satisfaction and the establishment of a new sense of value, we contribute to the life and living of people around the world.

About Asahi Kasei

The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber businesses, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 40,000 employees around the world, the company contributes to a sustainable society by providing solutions to the world's challenges through its three business sectors of Material, Homes, and Health Care. Its health care operations include devices and systems for acute critical care, dialysis, therapeutic apheresis, transfusion, and manufacture of biotherapeutics, as well as pharmaceuticals and diagnostic reagents. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.com.

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