Aim of Neuroscience Research at Daikin: Air That Inhibits Fatigue

What value does air have beyond heating and cooling?

Daikin Industries, Ltd.
Content Production: TOYO KEIZAI BRAND STUDIO

Approximately 20 kilos. Do you know what this number represents? This is the amount of air that people inhale each day.^*1 Intake of water is about 1.2 kilos, and food is about 1.3 kilos, which means that our daily use of air far outweighs that of food and water. Knowing this, you can easily understand that air quality is just as important as food and water quality.

Air affects our bodies in a variety of ways. For example, infectious diseases from airborne viruses and allergies from allergens, such as mold and pollen, quickly come to mind. However, those are just some of the ways that the various elements of air can impact the human condition.

“Air quality can affect people in the amount of fatigue they feel, their productivity at work, and even how they perceive taste.”

Kiyoshi Kuroi
Leader, IAQ Technologies Group,
Technology and Innovation Center,
Daikin Industries, Ltd.

Those are the words spoken by Kiyoshi Kuroi, leader of the IAQ Technologies Group at Daikin Industries, a manufacturer specializing in air conditioning. The IAQ in the name of the IAQ Technologies Group stands for “indoor air quality.” It is a concept that is currently gaining international awareness.

The research theme of the group is “Everything but heating and cooling.” For example, to provide air with high added value, the group conducts research that measures how air affects people in all daily activities of their lives including “concentrating, relaxing, sleeping, and eating.”

Kuroi, who stands at the center of this research, aims for the evolution of air conditioners, which are closely integrated into our lives, from products that “condition air” to products that “create air.”

“The value of air conditioners until now had been taking an ‘negative environment,’ namely a hot or cold room, and changing it to a comfortable ‘zero environment.’ What we seek next is changing that ‘zero’ to a ‘positive.’ For example, we would like to provide added value through air with such benefits as increasing work efficiency and providing greater relaxation.”

When asked what was specifically needed for that, Kuroi had this response:

“Air is like a veil that envelops our bodies and minds but is indiscernible to the eye. That is why we strive to scientifically analyze and quantify it. We want to visualize it. Visualizing air would be of great value to us in creating air and improving the environment. The daily research we perform is conducted with a belief in the possibilities of air.”

The IAQ Technologies Group conducts daily research in order to provide air with high added value. Here a wide range of human resources are active including biological researchers, air component researchers, and specialists in advanced information analysis using AI. One of the experts in this group is neuroscientist Shota Hori.

Participation of a neuroscientist would seem only natural for the transition from a focus on “heating and cooling” to the next stage of generating new value for air that provides “optimum air in support of all daily activities in the lives of people.”

Hori was originally engaged in research at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine. He talked to us about his reasons for joining Daikin.

Shota Hori
IAQ Technologies Group,
Technology and Innovation Center,
Daikin Industries, Ltd.

At the time, I had just learned that Kyoto University and Daikin had formed a comprehensive partnership aimed at new value creation and that Daikin was working to develop technology to measure human brain activity. I thought to myself, ‘Why is an air conditioner manufacturer like Daikin becoming involved in this field?’ The broad extent of Daikin research intrigued me and made me want to contribute to it.

The strength of air is that it can have a good effect on people for a long time. For this reason, I would like to measure the impact of air on people and propose air that has value to improve human lives, behavior, and comfort."

So, what exactly does “possibilities of air” mean to Shota Hori? He gave us two specific examples.

“The first is for ‘air that inhibits fatigue.’ In joint research with the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), we have numerically clarified ‘indoor air quality (IAQ) and air environments (AE) that inhibit fatigue’ by measuring the degree of fatigue of people under various temperatures and humidity conditions. As a result, we found that comfort can be improved even at a temperature of 28°C when humidity is kept at 55% or less and fatigue can be reduced^*2 when humidity is 40% or less.”
This means that if you use an air conditioner equipped with a humidity control function, you can create comfortable, invigorating air environments (AE) for a room even during the heat of mid-summer. When humidity cannot be controlled, lowering the room temperature to 26°C can also lead to improved comfort and a reduction in fatigue.

‘Air that makes food taste good’ is also a possibility. For example, regulating the environment by raising the temperature when eating the main dish and lowering the temperature when eating dessert improves the taste. At a past event, Daikin held an exhibition where the indoor temperature was controlled, and visitors could experience the changes in the taste of wine due to differences in the air environment. ^*3

Focusing on air quality not only makes daily life more comfortable but various experiences are enriched even further.

Air quality improves the daily behavior and comfort of people. To expand the possibilities of air, the researchers of the IAQ Technologies Group continue to pursue “Air” on a daily basis.

In recent years, the concept of well-being has become of keen interest to people around the world, and the IAQ Technologies Group has been quick to seize upon it as a keyword for discussion. Its aim is to create value for air that not only contributes to physical health but also to “social health, richness of spirit, and happiness.” Kuroi, as the leader of IAQ Technologies Group, describes what that vision entails.

“Indoor environments are not only composed of air, but also everything that occupies those spaces. That’s why we must look at a variety of things, not just air conditioning, in order to provide people air with more value. In the future, I would like to think about the overall space through collaborative creation with various companies.”

Elaborating further, Kuroi related his perspective on the significance of pursuing air.

“Air quality significantly relates to human happiness and well-being, and the pursuit of air quality is essential to greater happiness.”

The pursuit of human happiness through air. That is something possible only from Daikin, a manufacturer specializing in air conditioning. Its company initiatives will likely become increasingly more important to society in the future.

Learn more about the possiblities of air as seen by Daikin

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Data according to Daikin research

*2

Press release dated May 28, 2020
Joint research aimed at creating comfortable and healthy air environments demonstrates that lowering humidity even at a room temperature of 28°C is effective in reducing fatigue.
https://www.daikin.co.jp/press/2020/20200528/pdf/press_20200528.pdf

*3

Press release on October 10, 2018
An announcement is made to publicize the company’s first exhibition at CEATEC JAPAN 2018 and its 20 ideas for creating new value for air and space environments.
https://www.daikin.co.jp/press/2018/20181010/pdf/press_20181010.pdf

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This page was originally published on September 30, 2021, with some additions and revisions made on June 20, 2022.

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Some revisions were made on December 13, 2023.