The challenge of creating an open innovation starting with a rough sketch.
Olympus Corporation OPC Hack & Make project interview

The Olympus Corporation’s Kensuke Ishii and Akinobu Sato happened to incubate the same concept in different places. Loftwork Inc.’s Hajime Matsui, Yuya Tanaka, Mayumi Ishikawa, Shoma Terai, and Tomoko Sekiguchi are partners in the production process of manufacturers. These seven individuals reflect on the road they have just traveled, recounting how a project with no foreseeable end was both tense and fun.

Matsui, Loftwork: How did the OPC concept come about?

Sato, Olympus Corporation: Things began in 2010, when an employee from our design center proposed a rough sketch for a camera without an operational interface. We built a prototype and presented it within the company, but things stalled and I began to worry. That’s when I met Ishii, who was researching at MIT’s Media Lab. I remember him saying that they were working on a similar idea over there and that “This kind of coincidence is not a miracle. It’s fate.”

Ishii, Olympus Corporation: I was looking for the possibility of open innovation in research development. But I knew that in order to prove the value of this internally, I needed to bring in people from outside the company and make something happen. All types of cameras without operational interfaces served as great materials for bringing together people from outside the company to think about use and value. After speaking to a Loftwork Inc. representative about the OPC concept at an MIT Media Lab sponsored event in the spring of 2012, they readily cooperated with us on a trial hackathon for the summer of 2013. Taking advantage of the fact that they would be present as observers, Sato and I began preparing the product.

Matsui, Loftwork: I first met Sato and Ishii in November 2013. They said they wanted to stir up activity aimed at bringing a product from planing and development to retail and asked if I could do hackathons or app development. I accepted and had three suggestions by December: “verbalization of the concept”, “implementation of customer discovery”, and “creation of a creator community”.

Matsui, Loftwork: We had a plan to get expert creators to build us a radical app, but we didn’t end up using it.

Sato, Olympus Corporation: It was an interesting idea, but the OPC was still unknown territory for us. If we went entrusted everything to them, nothing would come out of it, even if they made a big bang. We had other fine proposals and didn’t mind pushing things back a bit. But as for the planning overall, I felt an energy from Loftwork Inc. They left me with a favorable impression. None of their ideas could have come from within our company.

Matsui, Loftwork: They communicated the details of their proposals, and we kicked off the project in January 2014 without having set a manufacturing date. For the first three months, the Olympus Corporation and Loftwork Inc. held their weekly workshops a total of seven times, during which the value and concept of the OPC were verbalized.

Ishii, Olympus Corporation: Getting mutual understanding and consensus from the members was a major accomplishment. Before that there were some heated discussions among members internal to the company, and this was very useful for motivating the members in development. In fact, we were able to come this far because these people gave their all. It was truly a team-building experience.

Sato, Olympus Corporation: There were engineers and designers from the development side who went above and beyond their duties, and I’m glad that they got excited about it. Those who participated then continued to help out, and some of them formed their own team. We were able to lay a foundation for the project in seven workshops of thorough discussions.

Matsui, Loftwork: We carried out user interviews after establishing the concept and target user developed in the workshops, but we had trouble trying to get people to understand what was “new”about the OPC. That’s when we came to the painful realization that it would be difficult to appeal to users if we determined the value of the OPC solely by ourselves. We then regained our footing by “creating the value together” with creators and developers from outside of Loftwork Inc. Specifically, “hacker” developers and “maker” creators become community-focused OPC fans who use the OPC to form an “OPC community” for building a brand-new camera.The scenario involved us creating an “OPC community” through which developers (coming from “hacker” background) and creators (coming from a “maker” background) would use the OPC to create a brand-new camera and become community-focused OPC fans.

At that time, KOIL, with which I am affiliated, was opening; open innovation had become a theme internally; and I was consulting the state of open platforms in the world, which is when I had a premonition that innovation would occur through the building of co-creation spaces. Meanwhile, a manufacturing date was coming into sight; and from April 2014, we seriously started discussing how we would design the period leading up to its release. I even went with Ishii and Sato all the way to the MIT Media Lab in Boston.

Sato, Olympus Corporation: That’s when I received some inspiration from Joichi Ito, the director of the MIT Media Lab, who told me about the “Four Ps”: peers, passion, project, and play. That is, engage with a passion that you and some peers share, play around with some ideas, and then try them out in a project. These four Ps create an indispensable endless cycle. And I was still further impressed when I saw how MIT Media Lab students offered their opinions by starting with the word “Yes” rather than with negation.

There is no certainty that innovation will occur should manufacturers continue working as they always have. I realized that in order for innovation to occur, these kinds of people and this kind of process is necessary. All I can do is inject that essence into a project and share it, not with businesses, but with the general public from an ideal. You have to build things up by talking with your peers, not by thinking in a vacuum. Even if it’s difficult to realize all of the four Ps right away, I think that a project will start moving if you have at least “peers” and “passion” to start with.

Matsui, Loftwork: Our own Ishikawa came on board in May 2014 to materialize plans for the creation of a development community.

Ishikawa, Loftwork Inc.: As an employee working four days a week, I was in charge of announcements, writing weekly articles on Gizmodo and Engadget, and blogging. One of the reasons I participated in this project was because I could disseminate information to media and bloggers interested in the OPC.

After joining, the first dramatic event was the unveiling of the project at MIT Media Lab @ Tokyo 2014 (July 10). It became open innovation at a stage where we couldn’t say whether the product was going to appear or not. So there was this dilemma of whether or not we could make it open innovation, and the road leading up to exhibition wasn’t exactly smooth, but all kinds of media covered the unveiling, and there was a large response on Twitter.

Ishii, Olympus Corporation: Making a commitment as a business is what is most important when you’re implementing open innovation. An official exhibition is the first step. That happened on July 10, after which I really felt that we had come a long way.

Matsui, Loftwork: The prototype launch was set to occur at Engadget Fes 2014 (November 24), which is visited by many people who specialize in “Hack & Make” work. For this reason, Terai came on board to bring our creativity up a level.

Terai, Loftowrk: When I joined, the teaser site for the launch hadn’t even been named. So I whipped up a name and logo for our information dissemination phase. These weren’t exactly necessary; but in the same way that work was said to be in disarray, my work was necessary where anchorage was lacking. An important part of this process involved having group discussions.

Tanaka, Loftwork: The name and logo function as a public symbol. Since putting it in place, our activity and communication moves more smoothly.

Sato, Olympus Corporation: Users make decisions based on how fun something is. If the people working on a project aren’t having fun, the users won’t have fun. When you’re building a fun atmosphere, not only the product but the design, too, should impress. There is a difference if someone is impressed with what they see. Moreover, a logo lives on. This design was well-received by all parties, which made me realize how important it is to build up these small achievements when you’re going to embark on something new.

Matsui, Loftwork: During our prototype launch at Engadget Fes 2014, we made a call for thirty testers alongside exhibiting our prototype and unveiling our project.

Terai, Loftowrk: We prepared a wide-range of materials for the event: the website, diagrams to explain our concept, stickers, staff jerseys, an exhibition panel, an idea contest form… The aim was to express an atmosphere that was integral to our project with the creative concept of “a club where adults of a similar age can gather and get excited about building things.” For example, we turned the website into an instruction manual for the OPC tool to get people excited before they were even building.

Ishikawa, Loftwork: We thought that the project wouldn’t be able to convey its intent with the product booth alone, so we held a co-exhibition with FabCafe. And with Terai’s contributions, we succeeded in maintaining a constant crowd on the day of the event. We received over 100 submissions for the “OPC Idea Award” contest that we held at the venue.

Sekiguchi, Loftwork: Before the event, we were worried about how many ideas we would receive. But in the end, we received so many that it was hard to find space for all of them on our glass wall. Everyone, adult and child alike, looked so excited to write their ideas down. I was also impressed to see children come up with ideas that adults would never think of. (For example, a camera that can cut vegetables when you take a photo.)

Sato, Olympus Corporation: Ordinary camera designs can be a well-kept secret all the way up to their unveiling. Showing a prototype before it’s to be unveiled takes a lot of guts. It’s unheard of. But we weren’t able to do it without the understanding and bold judgment of our superiors. No matter how much effort you put in, nothing will materialize without such judges. Many of our employees visited the venue; and afterwards, we had many more people following us with interest.

Matsui, Loftwork: Over 100 people responded to our call for testers.

Tanaka, Loftwork: We have a lot of experience with projects that openly accept ideas at this company. However, until now, this has been limited to designs and illustrations. In order to reach out to a completely different group of people, we conveyed our eagerness for the project, not online but directly, by reaching out and sharing data with people that we met in real places. I think this played a role in our large number of applicants.

Ishikawa, Loftwork: Having a “real place” for creatives to meet, like they do at FabCafe, works to our advantage. At the same time as building an online community centered around Facebook and our website, we also hold events out of which an OPC community can develop. We continue to maximize our use of FabCafe.

Sato, Olympus Corporation: Receiving over 100 applications for testing positions was a happy accident. That’s when I knew that the eagerness we had showed thus far had been conveyed. I’ve always thought that testing before your product goes on sale serves a purpose, and that doesn’t mean we are now testing to promote the Olympus Air A01. What I want is to invent a new imaging experience. And so I’ve paid a lot of attention to the role of the tester. I want to place an importance on our first meeting with the thirty testers we’ve selected so that they don’t leave after one session but continue on to the next.

Matsui, Loftwork: On February 5, 2015, we finally announced that it would go on sale as a product. On this day, we invited bloggers to our OPC Hack & Make Gathering Blogger Event so that they could try the new imaging experience of the Olympus Air A01 for themselves. How do you feel about making it all the way to the unveiling of the product?

Ishii, Olympus Corporation: Simply delighted, but I already see a new issue. I’m already consulting with Sato about what to do with our subsequent timing. It’s my task to handle things as they move from research development to the business department, but I intend to see everything to the end, as the success of this project lies in the belief that open innovation can succeed.

Sato, Olympus Corporation: I don’t really feel a sense of accomplishment. Rather, I feel a bit tense. The game now revolves around how many users will help us universalize OPCs for the general public. If we set that as our goal, then we’ve only entered the ring. We’ll be up against something formless next, which is a bit more nerve-wracking. I’m so excited that I haven’t been able to sleep recently (laughs).

Matsui, Loftwork: A compass is more necessary than a map in our goal of “universalization in 5 years.” I think we will face a new future while still revising our blueprints. But I hope to proceed with some unknown variables, sharing and continuously confirming our intended direction with everyone.