How do you think the evolution of regenerative medicine will affect hearing aids and hearing tests? With advances in regenerative medicine, I think we’ll see a world in which hearing aids become all but obsolete. Perhaps immediately after the development of regenerative medicine procedures, they may be too expensive and risky. They may be adopted on a limited basis after weighing the risks and benefits and offered only to those with profound hearing loss. But I think new technological innovations will eventually reduce costs and risk, and the use of regenerative medicine will expand explosively. I’m not sure how many decades that might take, but before that day comes, Rion will need to find new business areas and offer value beyond hearing aids. I believe hearing loss prevention will be a key approach. In recent years, we’ve all heard about the damage to hearing caused by headphones. It’s said some one billion young adults worldwide are at risk of hearing loss. So the issue of hearing loss prevention is gaining attention. In addition, when we envision a world in which regenerative medicine has made significant strides forward, the most important thing won’t be dealing with hearing loss after it’s occurred, but preventing it from happening in the first place. Over these past few years, our company has been shifting from providing hearing aid products to providing value based on hearing itself. I believe we’ll be seeing the release of various new services and products related to hearing beyond hearing aids. No matter how far regenerative medicine advances, hearing tests will continue to be necessary to consider treatment plans. So I believe it will have little or no impact on Rion’s medical testing equipment. In terms of hearing loss prevention, it may be a good idea to utilize RION's expertise in hearing test equipment to offer products and services that can be used in people’s daily lives. One example would be a thermometer-like device that allows people to easily check their hearing at home.Tell us what you two most value in your research and development at Rion and what you would like to pass on to younger engineers. I would advise them to reexamine past technologies and methods when they find themselves stuck. Research and development tend to focus on applying new technologies, but if you shift your perspective, you may find that past technologies can offer new possibilities. I believe the latest technologies and past technologies can be integrated so that the advantages of one compensates for the disadvantages of the other to produce something better. I think it’s the same in team research and development. Rather than fixing the shortcomings of each individual on the team, one should focus on the strengths of each individual and on building a system that maximizes the strengths of each. That’s what will lead to the new technologies, products, and value we’ll provide. What I want to tell my younger engineers is: “Are you customer-oriented?” I know they’ve been told by the company to put the customer first and to understand customer needs, but speaking for myself, for a while after I joined the company, I was unable to put that into practice, even though I’d registered it in my head. I think that’s quite normal, especially for young engineers, as they have very few opportunities to meet customers, and customers are obscure entities to them. [laughs] That’s why I changed my way of thinking. “In our line of work, we have relationships with coworkers similar to those with customers and vendors. Let’s do our work so it pleases those within your reach.” The reasoning here is that the work you do will eventually reach your customer. So initiating that chain of satisfaction by feeling good and confident about your work should put a smile on the face of the customer who ultimately uses your product. If you can relate to my experience about being unsure if you’re putting the customer first, I suggest you give this approach a try.What’s been the biggest challenge for the two of you? It’s my ongoing research, though I can’t disclose the details of what I’m currently working on. We’re tackling the challenge of developing a technology that’s a world’s-first. I can’t think of a major challenge but, for me, the challenge has been to learn about new technologies every day through my work developing products and pursuing product research, and then being able to apply them myself. I think that’s a natural part of my job, but I personally feel the challenge is to continue doing this day after day. I may be going off topic here, but I believe many people at Rion are willing to learn on their own initiative. I believe this makes the foundation for creating new technologies and products. In particular, we’re now in an era where we have to be able to keep offering new value. I think it’s important for all of us to learn and absorb what we can outside of our assigned duties and to broaden our horizons. Even in my personal time, I’ve found I’m subconsciously keeping a watch out for things that may be beneficial in my work. I might hear or see information on TV, in magazines, or on the Internet that grabs my attention. This often gives me hints for solving issues I may be working on currently or lets new ideas form. I feel a sense of mission in my own work, but I think it’s also important to be interested and stimulated by things outside your field. You’re right. Recently, I’ve become a member of an AI competition site in my personal time, which I find absorbing and stimulating. Someday I’d like to apply the knowledge and skills I gained there to my products.[laughs] Toshimasa EbinaAudiometry Technology Development Group, R&D Department, Technical Development Center. Since joining Rion in 2009, he’s worked on designing and developing medical instruments. Since 2018, he’s taken part in the development of medical in-struments for auditory testing.gies and Rion’s FutureSESSIONA talk session with our mid-career engineersTwo people active in the fields of hearing aids, hearing testing devices, and "hearing" will discuss the challenges they are currently facing and how to utilize evolving AI technology.11
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