These words from NTT’s President and CEO Akira Shimada during his keynote at MWC 2026 perfectly sum up NTT’s vision for a brighter world powered by photonics. With AI redefining business, technology and infrastructure requirements, we believe photonics is the key to an intelligent, power-optimized future.

And at MWC 2026, NTT showcased the work we are doing to make this future a reality. Through presentations and exhibits, we shone a light on what businesses need to think about, invest in and understand today so they can be ready to compete in the AI-driven economy of tomorrow.

IOWN as a foundation for the AI era

In his keynote address, Mr. Shimada highlighted the need to rethink computing and network architecture for the AI era. “The infrastructure choices we make today define long-term performance, resilience and sustainability,” he said. 

He pointed to the need to improve efficiency across computing and networking systems so innovation can continue without dramatically increasing power consumption. He emphasized the transformative potential of optical technologies to reduce power consumption, and he introduced key initiatives such as the commercialization of photonics-electronics convergence devices and the development of optical quantum computers.

Already AI workloads are becoming larger, more complex, and more distributed. Traditional electronic architectures are approaching structural limits. A photonics-based infrastructure will enable higher data throughput, faster processing speeds, greater system integration, energy efficiency, and scalable AI infrastructure.

Big developments are underway that will enable AI and business of the future. That includes the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network, known as IOWN, a concept that includes the building of digital infrastructure based on optical technologies rather than electronics. NTT is moving quickly from research to deployment to achieve this vision. Some might say we are moving at the speed of light.

NTT’s MWC 2026 showcase in the spotlight

Our MWC 2026 exhibits were a showcase of work already underway as we move toward an intelligent, power-optimized future. We focused on two key areas:

AI-Resilient Infrastructure with Photonics: Here we showed how NTT is leveraging optical technologies to build a sustainable and energy-efficient infrastructure for an AI-driven society.

AI-Powered Services and Solutions: This included practical, real-world AI deployment that is happening now to pave the way for the future, such as:

Photonics and the innovation of the future

There is no question AI will play a significant role in the future of business. Enlightened companies are already preparing for the AI workload growth, autonomous systems and human-AI-robot collaboration to come.

And, as Mr. Shimada said, that means working toward an intelligent, sustainable future with light at its core. Photonics will power the infrastructure that supports AI. Organizations that rethink infrastructure today will be better positioned to compete in the AI-driven markets of tomorrow.

See NTT at MWC to explore the technologies and demonstrations in greater depth.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Business
• Infrastructure
• Photonics
• Quantum computing

A ballerina with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) gets to experience the joy of dance again. A DJ living with ALS can continue to create music and perform for an audience. People with physical limitations can compete, socialize and connect through e-sports.

These are just a few examples arising out of Project Humanity, an initiative aimed at creating a society where everyone can achieve well-being. It is a human-centered program that uses technology to enable people with physical limitations to connect to the world – and in the future it will  be powered by the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN), making those connections seamless, real-time and global.

What is Project Humanity?

Project Humanity is an initiative to support social inclusion and well-being for people with disabilities, dementia, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other conditions, as well as their families, friends and caregivers. We do this in ways that minimize burden and respect each person’s dignity. This includes developing and implementing technologies such as avatar control using bio-signals, including electromyography (EMG) and electroencephalography (EEG) signals.

In the case of EMG signals, the team working on Project Humanity have developed EMG-based control interface technology that uses the signals to sense even the most subtle muscle movements and convert them into digital character actions. Using this technology, people experiencing muscle atrophy and limited mobility can intuitively control digital avatars or remote robots with slight muscle movements, giving them the ability to communicate and even perform on-stage in digital environments. An EGG control interface, meanwhile, uses sensors to read brain waves and converts that into device operation information.

In addition, Project Humanity has developed voice synthesis technology, which reproduces a person’s voice from recorded speech and translates it into multiple languages while preserving the speaker’s unique vocal characteristics.

Project Humanity in action: DJ MASA’s story

In 2014, at age 27, DJ MASA, or Masatane Muto, was diagnosed with ALS, an incurable disease that progressively damages motor neurons responsible for voluntary movement. The diagnosis did not dim his passion for music.

He performs a variety of music live using eye-gaze technology, but he was missing the interactive component in his shows – the back-and-forth with the crowd. “I want to connect with the audience,” DJ MASA told us when Project Humanity was exploring the possibility of a collaboration with him.

To bring DJ MASA’s hope to life, we blended virtual and physical spaces so he could interact with the crowd through a digital avatar. We used our cross-lingual text-to-speech voice synthesis technology to enable him to address the audience in both Japanese and English using his own voice. Our EMG-based avatar control interface leverages residual muscle activity to control an avatar, enabling him to perform DJ call-and-response gestures such as raising his hands, clapping, pointing at the audience, jumping, and swaying his body.

As a result, he was able to “connect with the audience,” as he wished. DJ MASA communicated with the crowd in Japanese and English using his own reproduced voice and performed live through his avatar at self-organized live music festival and a variety of international exhibitions such as Ars Electronica Festival, Big Bang Ball and South by Southwest. When he lifted the avatar’s hands, the audience raised theirs in response. “I could feel I was connecting with the audience,” he said afterward.

Not only did we present a DJ performance, but we also showcased an avatar dance performance synchronized to the music that DJ MASA controlled with his gaze, using NTT’s technology called Style-specified Dance Choreography Generation from Music (SDCGM). “I continue to challenge the impossible,” DJ MASA said.

Waves of Will: Breanna Olson’s story

Breanna Olson, a former ballerina who now lives with ALS, provides another example of how this technology can bring joy and keep dreams alive.
 
Breanna is an American dancer, and advocate who is widely known for her indomitable spirit and courage in the face of a life-changing diagnosis. Breanna’s dance journey began at a young age, with training in various dance genres including ballet, contemporary and jazz. Throughout her career, she has performed on stage and worked with several dance companies, earning high praise for her ability to blend emotion and technique.

After she was diagnosed with ALS in 2023, she wanted to continue to express herself through dance. In 2025, in collaboration with NTT and global creative research and development network Dentsu Lab, she performed Waves of Will, a world-first live performance that uses EEG-based signals to trigger and modulate  predefined dance expressions. The system captured her brainwaves and analyzed their patterns to detect a specific, learned EEG signal that allowed her to select predefined movement options at the moments she chose, and those movements were executed by a digital virtual dancer. Rather than responding to passive stimuli, the interface enabled Breanna to actively communicate her intention. She used this system in pre-production to help shape the artistic direction of the piece, and during the performance itself to select the movements that the virtual dancer would execute.

It was the world’s first live performance that combines brainwave technology, data engineering and performance design.

“Even when my body stopped moving, my imagination never did,” said Breanna. “Working with NTT and Dentsu Lab, I am able to dance again. I have found a new language for creativity, one where my thoughts move, my ideas take shape, where I can keep expressing who I am.”

How does IOWN support Project Humanity?

Project Humanity is changing lives. IOWN can take this work even further. With its ultra high speed and low latency, IOWN has the potential to make the technology behind Project Humanity run more smoothly and quickly.

Just imagine what this can mean for people with physical limitations. For instance, everyone communicating online in a group – no matter where they are – will be able to see and react to things at almost the same time. By adjusting the system so that everyone stays in sync with the slowest connection in the group, the experience will be fair and coordinated for all involved.

Digital twin technology – one of the pillars of the IOWN concept – is also key to creating a future where there are no barriers to participating in social activities for those with physical limitations. Digital twin technology allows for the creation of a virtual copy in real time of anything in the real world, including people. When coupled with EMG-based control interface technology, this can enable true, real-time communication using digital avatars.

Looking ahead to the future of Project Humanity

NTT has big plans for Project Humanity. We are working to develop communication assist technologies that further support the social participation of people with dementia, and technologies that help people change the way they think and feel so they can better accept and cope with dementia in a positive, healthy way. And we are working to support the movement of people with spinal cord injuries.

Our initiatives also include a focus on neurodiversity, recognizing differences in the brain, nerves, and various individual characteristics that result from them – and building mutual respect, supporting ways to utilize these differences in society. The principles behind Project Humanity are people-centered. NTT respects diversity, solves problems in ways that do not burden those involved, and aims to create a world where everyone can achieve well-being. It is our goal to create an inclusive society without division, where no one is left behind.  

With Project Humanity and IOWN, NTT is creating a future where everyone can continue to participate in society and chase their dreams.

• Healthcare
• Maximizing Wellbeing
• Research & Development (R&D)

We are equipping drones with a lightning-proof protective cage and a conductive wire. The cage ensures the drones will be able to keep flying even when they’re hit by a high current of electricity, and the conductive wire guides the lightning safely to the ground. Then we fly the drones near thunderclouds at high altitudes to attract and trigger lightning strikes.

This technology in development, named one of Time magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025, is being designed to protect communities and infrastructure from the damaging impact of lightning, and eventually collect renewable energy, too.

The human and economic cost of lightning damage

Lightning can be incredibly destructive. About 24,000 deaths and 240,000 injuries are attributed to lightning each year worldwide. It can destroy power lines and damage electrical infrastructure, which in turn has an economic cost due to power outages and communications failures. In Japan alone, the estimated annual cost of lightning damage ranges from 100 to 200 billion yen.

Traditionally, lightning rods have been the main source of protection for infrastructure and urban areas. However, their protective range is limited, and in some cases, with wind turbines or outdoor event venues for example, it’s simply not practical – or even possible – to install them.

That is why we are developing drone-triggered lightning. Essentially, this involves flying drones into areas just beneath thunderclouds to actively trigger lightning strikes, and then guiding the strike safely away from vulnerable areas.

NTT’s technologies for triggering lightning with drones

To successfully trigger lightning using a drone, it’s crucial that the drone remain operational even after being struck by lightning. It also needs an active triggering method because simply flying a drone under a thundercloud is not enough to attract lightning.

So, NTT is developing two technologies to make this happen:

NTT’s experimental demonstrations of triggering and guiding lightning

To test the viability of this technology, we ran experiments in December 2024 and January 2025 in the mountains of Hamada City, Shimane Prefecture in Japan, where the elevation is 900 meters. We used a scientific instrument called a field mill to monitor the electric field at ground level. Then, as a thundercloud approached and the electric field strength increased, we launched a drone equipped with the lightning protection cage and conductive wire mentioned above.

The biggest moment came on December 13, 2024, when we flew the drone toward a thundercloud at an altitude of 300 meters and flipped the switch on the conductive wire that electrically connected it to the ground. This caused a large current of more than 2,000 volts to flow through the wire, accompanied by a significant change in the surrounding electric field strength. This rapid increase in local electric field strength triggered a lightning strike directed at the drone – and that was a world first.

The strike produced a loud crack, a visible flash and minor melting of the protective cage, yet the drone continued flying stably. On that day we confirmed that the drone’s lightning triggering method was effective and that the lightning protection technology worked well, too.

How lightning drones will develop in the future

Drones that predict where lightning will strike, can deliberately trigger it and safely guide it away will help to protect communities and people. They will be able to reduce lightning damage worldwide by absorbing thundercloud energy and preventing lightning from ever reaching the ground. Infrastructure operators such as telecommunications and power companies, along with national and local governments, will eventually be able to use this technology to protect critical facilities from lightning strikes.

But our work is not yet done. We are continuing to advance research and development in high-precision lightning location prediction as well as lightning mechanisms, which are the physics and processes behind how lightning forms and changes. We will also be developing technologies for capturing and storing lightning energy so it can eventually be used as a source of renewable energy.

In the future, we envision a world with greatly reduced lightning damage where the vast amounts of energy produced by lightning can benefit people and our planet.

• Renewable energy
• Research & Development (R&D)

Large language models are getting bigger, with more parameters, computational resources and training data. But businesses don’t need massive scale – they need efficiency. That is why enterprises are looking for artificial intelligence (AI) models that can deliver high performance without adding complexity to their infrastructure.

NTT’s tsuzumi was developed to meet that need.

It is a small LLM that functions as a specialized, customizable node within NTT’s broader AI Constellation, a multi-agent, debate-style AI system. tsuzumi combines high performance with low power consumption and compact size, while also delivering world-class Japanese processing performance. It also gives enterprises the flexibility they need for domain-specific applications.

NTT is focused on resolving societal issues through the collective intelligence of smaller, efficient AIs, and we developed tsuzumi entirely in-house, in line with our AI Charter – six basic principles that inform our ethical, responsible approach to AI.

And now we have released tsuzumi 2, delivering the next generation of safe, secure, trustworthy AI, built for the enterprise. Boosting performance with seamless collaboration among humans, systems and AI, tsuzumi 2 has made major advances in contextual and semantic understanding. Customers such as Tokyo Online University and FUJIFILM are already using it.

This isn’t just a generic public chatbox; tsuzumi 2 is a high-performance, high-security and low-cost small LLM, designed for enterprise and industry use. It supports corporate digital transformation with a model that offers adapter style tuning, or lightweight fine-tuning, so organizations can adapt it to domain- or company-specific tasks.

The use of AI in today’s business environment

AI excels when data is centralized. Yet in business, information often sits in departmental or system silos, or in people’s heads, making consolidation difficult. As a result, organizations underuse AI’s potential.

tsuzumi 2’s customizability and fine-tuning capabilities have the potential to change all this. Data from across an organization can be gathered and fed into tsuzumi 2, which can then be tuned for departmental and system use – performing tasks customized for each department. Integrating data from multiple internal systems also helps the business with cross-departmental planning and other tasks.

What makes tsuzumi 2 different from other AI models

tsuzumi 2 stands out from other AI models for a number of reasons. It was built strictly in-house from the ground up, not adapted from overseas models, and it uses closely controlled training data to help ensure its trustworthiness. tsuzumi 2 supports deployment on-premises or in private clouds, which helps to keep sensitive data secure.

It performs inference on a single GPU, dramatically reducing energy use and costs. These individual GPUs can then be connected via NTT’s high-speed, low-latency IOWN network – and NTT is unique in being able to offer both AI and photonics.

In addition, it is optimized for finance, healthcare, and public sector use cases through fine-tuning and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and it empowers companies to develop domain-specific AI tools quickly and securely. It’s been proven in internal NTT trials to meet or surpass performance benchmarks from leading international models.

While tsuzumi was developed in Japan and is currently optimized for Japanese, it is being developed as a global solution.

How organizations are using tsuzumi 2

This isn’t just theoretical. It’s in use already – for instance, Tokyo Online University has adopted tsuzumi 2 for AI that protects student data with secure applications. The university is using it in both educational and administrative domains, for use cases including: enhancing course Q&As for students; supporting the creation of teaching materials and exams; and developing personalized guidance for course registration and career counseling. Because all data stays within the university’s network, it ensures total confidentiality.

In another example, NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS and FUJIFILM are collaborating on an enterprise knowledge management initiative that combines tsuzumi 2’s generative AI with FUJIFILM’s REiLI technology. It transforms unstructured corporate data such as contracts and proposals into structured, actionable insights. The goal of this work is to enable enhanced productivity and smarter business decision-making through secure, generative intelligence.

Responsible AI for a connected future

As we look to the future, NTT is advancing AI through our AI Constellation concept, a next-generation AI framework in which multiple, small, specialized AI models and LLMs like tsuzumi 2 are linked together to collaborate, debate, and solve complex problems – co-creating with humans involved in the multi-agent debates. NTT believes in the concept of ‘self as we,’ in which humans, nature and now technology are all connected, and one of our key goals with tsuzumi 2 is to create an AI that can naturally coexist with humans.

With tsuzumi 2 we are giving CEOs and enterprise leaders an AI model that is secure, efficient, trustworthy and sustainable. As the technology continues to develop, we envision future applications for tsuzumi 2 that include cybersecurity, intelligent debate systems, and autonomous decision support. At NTT we are continuing to advance our commitment to building an AI ecosystem based on trust, transparency and local innovation – and providing enterprises with the efficient, flexible, high-performance solutions they need to succeed.

• LLM
• Research & Development (R&D)

The possibilities of quantum computing are endless.

Picture a safer world where scientists can uncover the causes of hurricanes, tornadoes and other extreme weather events using global weather modelling and analysis. Or where researchers can accelerate drug development and create custom treatments tailored to a person’s individual genetic profile, leading to safer, more effective medications and new drugs that can prevent diseases we don’t even know about today.

Imagine how much safer and more streamlined shipping and transportation would be if people could instantly calculate the best routes for autonomous driving using real-time traffic data to minimize congestion across urban areas. And just think about how much more financially secure families could be if experts created optimal investment portfolios and strategies through the analysis of large-scale financial data.

This is the potential of quantum computing. With its ability to perform calculations at incredible speeds and instantly solve problems that would take a traditional top-performing supercomputer 100,000 years, quantum computing offers a huge opportunity to improve lives around the world.

But we aren’t there yet.

Although this year marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of quantum science, quantum computing in 2025 is still in the early stages of development. It faces major challenges in terms of scalability and error correction. At NTT, we are committed to driving transformative progress with quantum computing – and that’s why we made “Quantum Leap” the theme of our 2025 NTT R&D Forum.

We are working toward a new type of quantum computer – called an optical quantum computer – with the goal of delivering a system that creates tangible real-world benefits in the next five to six years.

How optical technology will advance quantum computing

Classical computers are reaching their limits. They face growing energy challenges, as performance improvements are introduced and power consumption thus rises, and their processing speed is expected to eventually hit a ceiling. Quantum computers have the potential to overcome these limitations and are expected to play a key role in addressing a wide range of social challenges.

Integrating optical technology into quantum computing research can help to further advance development. For instance, quantum computing technology introduces noise into calculation results, which means it can only give a rough estimate of an answer for incredibly complex questions – not an exact answer. Optical technology can help to address this by using photons, which are far less susceptible to environmental interference, enabling more stable, low-noise qubits and allowing for precise, error-resilient quantum operations.

In addition, superconducting quantum computers will require cooling to near absolute zero and could only operate with large-scale refrigeration systems that consume significant amounts of energy. But optical quantum computers will be able to operate at room temperature, with photons traveling at high speeds and creating entangled states without the need for cooling systems, making them more resilient to heat and pressure.

NTT’s vision for optical quantum computing

NTT is leading the way in research and development into optical quantum computers. We are well-positioned to do so, given our extensive experience in optical communications, from submarine cables linking continents, to optical fiber networks that reach individual households. NTT is also one of the founding members of IOWN Global Forum, a concept and initiative aimed at realizing a world of well-being in which everyone can live smarter in their own way, based on next-generation information and communications infrastructure centered on optical technology.

We have made significant progress toward the development of optical quantum computers. Highlights include:

What comes next for quantum computing?

Through intense R&D, teams at NTT have developed an optical quantum computing platform that can be used today – but right now it can only do simple calculations. We aren’t stopping there, though. Optical quantum computing offers widespread benefits for better lives for people around the world and so we are working hard to realize its potential. We will be adding functions such as nonlinear operations and error correction, with the goal of enabling general-purpose, large-scale computation in the next five to six years. And, to further accelerate practical applications, we are building on our optical quantum computing platform to foster discussions and collaboration with our partners.

At NTT, we want to make lives better. We envision a day when optical quantum computing will be at the heart of long-term societal improvements in business, health, science, AI, and more, building a better future for people and the planet. Today, our people are working hard to make that vision a reality.

• Quantum computing
• Research & Development (R&D)

Definition: A qubit (short for quantum bit) is the basic unit of information in a quantum computer, similar to how a bit is the basic unit in a classical computer. When qubits interact, their states can become linked so that the state of one depends on the state of another, even across large distances. This property, called entanglement, allows quantum computers to perform powerful parallel computations.

Photons were once best known as part of popular science fiction, so it’s remarkable how much progress real science has made, and how far photonics will take us soon. NTT believes photonics will change lives for the better and Photonics-Electronics Convergence (PEC), the patented optical engine from NTT, is a critical part of moving into that future.

PEC devices integrate electronics and photonics within computer systems to enable faster data transmission, higher performance and greater energy efficiency. The NTT R&D Forum 2025 gave us the opportunity to show the world and lead discussions on how PEC will transform data centers and sustainable computing to help improve lives in tangible and meaningful ways.

It’s important because we expect Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to keep advancing, and the world the industry is already facing a pressing sustainability crisis. Humanity’s further progress requires powerful new technologies and photonics and PEC are both part of our answer to this challenge. Already, NTT has created servers enabled by PEC devices that only use one-eighth of the electricity of traditional servers.

And this is just the beginning of a new age of computing.

The future is photonics everywhere

Through the IOWN Global Forum, NTT is working with more than 160 partners to accelerate this truly transformational concept that will help build the communications and computing infrastructure of the future.

Today, most of our devices and technologies, such as phones, watches, gaming, sensors, PCs, servers and networks, use electronics to process and transmit information. Electricity usage from data centers, AI, and crypto mining is forecasted to double from 2023 to 2026 according to the International Energy Agency. AI alone could consume as much power as a medium-sized country like Ireland or Argentina. It has created a digital dilemma, making the move to photonics essential because, at best, doing nothing to change how we transmit, and process information means progress will stall. At worst, staying on the current course accelerates and deepens risks to the future of our environment.

One way to address these needs is  through a combination of optical technologies and a new approach to computing architecture, infrastructure, and data exchange: a concept NTT calls DCI (Data-Centric Infrastructure). As part of DCI, IOWN will use optical technologies to transform these electronic connections into photonic connections, increasing transmission speeds and improving responsiveness while consuming extremely low levels of power.

IOWN technologies allow NTT to create a more sustainable infrastructure, which will deliver faster speed networks with lower latency. That translates into different ways that we can serve people, customers and businesses. Looking forward, we believe this investment will have a long-term payoff for NTT and its customers.

For NTT the future is based on photonics everywhere, from the network all the way to the chip. And that will create a more sustainable technology and give us more opportunities to deliver valuable solutions, such having photonic technology in the chips in your phone.

PEC’s impact today and at R&D Forum 2025

If NTT’s commitment to long-term sustainability management is driven by photonics, then PEC devices are central to enabling ultra-low latency in the data centers while also boosting capacity and cutting power consumption.

NTT is steadily rolling out a phased adoption of PEC devices in stages under IOWN. These stages will extend from network infrastructure into computing systems.

In IOWN 1.0, PEC 1- devices were deployed in relay equipment at network connection points, and in network systems linking data centers and servers. These technologies supported the launch of high-capacity, low-latency network services, commercialized in 2023.

Launched in 2025, IOWN 2.0 marked the start of applying PEC devices inside computers.  For example, with PEC-2 devices, NTT is replacing traditional electrical wiring between computer boards with optical links to create an optical engine in servers. NTT has developed technology that use just one-eighth the power of conventional systems, which it showcased at the NTT R&D Forum 2025.

Also, on display at the R&D Forum were devices powered by PEC-2 technology and showcased in practical use:

Lower power consumption in future PEC devices

PEC capabilities will continue to advance rapidly in the near future. For example, when the commercial version of the PEC-2 switch releases in 2026 it will have an aggregate capacity of 102.4 terabits per second.  

By 2028, with IOWN 3.0, communication between chips on the same board will shift to optical, delivering further reductions in power consumption. Traditionally, meeting higher computational demand required scaling by adding entire server units, each equipped with CPUs, memory, GPUs, and other components.

By contrast, IOWN 3.0 will directly connect components optically, enabling flexible configuration and use of only the required parts across a wide network. Furthermore, unused components can be powered off, delivering breakthrough reductions in power consumption. And around 2032 IOWN 4.0 will push photonic technology into the chips themselves.

A profound change in the way we live

It is now clear that photonics and PEC devices have the potential to transform our lives in ways once only imagined.  As a founding member of the IOWN Global Forum, NTT has been at the forefront of working to change the way people, technology, nature and all things interact and connect.

The PEC devices on display and discussed at NTT R&D Forum 2025 demonstrate how recent progress is profoundly changing the communications and computing infrastructure of the future. By moving beyond electronics to embrace photonic technologies, NTT is working to enable a sustainable, secure, connected and immersive future for all.

• Photonics
• Research & Development (R&D)

A growing shortage of commercial drivers is putting increasing pressure on transportation systems globally. In fact, the world was short 3.6 million commercial truck drivers in 2024, according to road transport organization IRU. The number of taxi, bus and coach drivers is also dropping.

It is all part of an alarming trend toward fewer commercial drivers as the older generation retires and not enough young people take their place. It’s a big problem for logistics and public transportation, putting the safe, secure movement of people and goods at risk.

Autonomous driving can help to fill the gap – but it must be done safely and efficiently.

With this in mind, NTT has been conducting demonstration experiments in autonomous driving, starting in Japan, using our high-speed, highly reliable communication network services. We recently launched a new company, NTT Mobility, Inc., which will work together with partners and stakeholders to deliver practical, safe and efficient autonomous driving services in Japan by 2027.

The introduction of NTT Mobility builds on our 2024 announcement to develop a new Mobility AI Platform, and our October 2025 announcement of ultra-low-latency remote monitoring of autonomous vehicles (AVs) via NTT’s IOWN All-Photonics Network.

The role of NTT Mobility in an autonomous driving society

NTT Mobility’s work is beginning in Japan, where the government aims to introduce autonomous driving services in more than 100 locations by 2027. As a step toward that goal, Japan revised the Road Traffic Act in 2023 to allow Level 4 autonomous driving – which is fully autonomous driving under specific conditions – on public roads.

NTT Mobility will provide a one-stop service in Japan that will include procurement and provision, maintenance, servicing and management of AVs, including emergency dispatch. It will also include support services such as establishing driving areas, creating maps and providing training programs for operators, as well as remote monitoring system services.  

And, to contribute to Level 4 autonomous driving with remote monitoring, NTT Mobility will offer AI-driven innovations that will support regional public transportation crew operations. With regional transportation networks for buses and taxis differing in every community, NTT Mobility will collaborate with NTT Group companies to provide services that are both customized to local communities and focused on establishing standard operations, processes and efficiencies – all in support of a nationwide autonomous driving framework.

We envision that our Mobility AI Platform will be used by a wide range of industry, government and academic partners who share the goal of a safe, efficient society with zero traffic accidents. For instance, NTT and Toyota Motor Company expect to invest a total of ¥500 billion (approximately US$3.3 billion) in the platform by 2030, when widespread adoption is anticipated.

Autonomous driving projects in development at NTT

At the NTT R&D Forum in November 2025, we demonstrated several examples of work we have underway to support the growth of autonomous driving.

NTT Mobility is innovating the future of autonomous driving

Making autonomous driving real and practical in Japan – and eventually around the world – will take a coordinated system that includes safe and secure autonomous vehicles, standardized operations, and an infrastructure adapted to the road environment.

NTT is committed to being a cornerstone of this system, with NTT Mobility taking the lead. We are bringing together deep, relevant expertise and technology from across NTT Group companies and coordinating with partners such as Toyota to move toward a safe and sustainable autonomous-driving society.

Together we can create a new transportation system for the efficient, secure and accident-free movement of people and goods.

• Mobility
• Research & Development (R&D)

NTT DATA’s mission to create new paradigms that enrich society aligns naturally with the Vatican’s commitment to preservation and knowledge sharing. And that makes this longstanding collaboration an important story about technology and tradition uniting to connect past, present and future generations.

A decade of collaboration between NTT DATA and the Vatican

In 2014, the Vatican Apostolic Library partnered with NTT DATA to realize a vision of preserving fragile original documents while ensuring universal access. With that goal in mind, NTT DATA began work on the digitization of the Vatican Library’s handwritten manuscripts, with plans to eventually digitize 82,000 documents, or approximately 41 million pages.

The underlying technology driving this work is AMLAD, the cloud-based digital archive system NTT DATA developed for centralized management and utilization of digital content, including images, videos, and audio held by museums, libraries, companies and other institutions. With this digital archive technology, NTT DATA can enable secure, long-term storage and open access via DigiVatLib, the Vatican Library’s digital library service. DigiVatLib provides free access to the Vatican Library’s digitized collections, including manuscripts, incunabula, archival materials and inventories as well as graphic materials, coins and medals.

So far, over the course of the past decade, we have digitized more than 27,500 manuscripts and made them available online, accessible to anyone, anywhere, free of charge. This has helped to enhance scholarly research and global cultural access.

Extended reality and blockchain technology at the Vatican

This collaboration has also expanded beyond manuscripts. In 2021, we launched a 3D digitization project, including the Gregorian Tower, a 16th-century astronomical observatory. The tower has been exposed to risks of damage from disasters, accidents and aging. Meticulous scanning and modeling have allowed for its digital preservation, including restoration and research activities. The digitization of the Gregorian Tower, which was initially presented at Expo 2020 in Dubai, is the first project of 3D scanning and digitization of a building and it allows for immersive virtual exploration by users through XR (extended reality) technology.

Then, in 2023, NTT DATA furthered its collaboration with the Vatican Library by exploring the potential of Web3 technologies through an experimental project aimed at expanding the Library’s online community. This initiative used NFTs and blockchain to reward supporters who promoted the project on social media or otherwise demonstrated their support. Holders of these NFTs gained access to high-resolution images of 15 cultural assets from the Library, along with specially created explanatory texts, fostering a new and interactive connection between the Vatican Library and its audience.

The Vatican and NTT at Osaka Expo

NTT DATA and the Vatican continue to collaborate. In 2025, we signed an agreement establishing NTT DATA as a technology advisor to the Dicastery for Evangelization, supporting projects that fuse faith, art and innovation.

This included providing digital and IT services for the Holy See (Vatican) Pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025, where we featured Personalized Sound Zone (PSZ) technology – technology developed by NTT Computer and Data Science Laboratories that provides an Acoustic XR experience merging real and virtual sound spaces through open-ear earphones. PSZ allows individuals to control the sound space for themselves, hearing only what they want to hear. It was designed for uses such as allowing people to enjoy work and entertainment experiences regardless of their location, enabling comfortable conversations between people seated apart from each other in places like self-driving cars, and improving quality of life by enhancing hearing ability. 

As Osaka Expo 2025, PSZ was demonstrated as part of the Holy See Pavilion’s central exhibit, Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Deposition, which was loaned by the Vatican Museum and exhibited for the first time ever in Japan. The visitor experience was enhanced by a sound installation called Silent Echoes of the Great Bell by American artist Bill Fontana. Using PSZ technology, visitors were able to hear the hidden vibrations and subtle sounds of the main bell of St. Peter’s Basilica, which are typically inaudible to the human ear.

The combination of the visual art of Caravaggio and the technological sound art using NTT’s innovation created a unique, immersive experience, connecting the physical location in Osaka with the spiritual heart of the Vatican. And it is an example of how culture and cultural treasures which were once confined to archives are now accessible globally.

Sharing culture, inspiring innovation

Building on our new agreement, NTT DATA and the Holy See will continue to explore emerging technologies such as AI, XR and blockchain to deepen engagement and safeguard cultural heritage.

Future projects will focus on digital preservation, together with new viewing experiences that combine digital content with XR technologies, as a means of uniting humanity’s shared history with its technological future. This will include:

The goal is to merge the real world with the digital virtual world to both preserve cultural artifacts and history as well as expand ways in which people can access and interact with it.

NTT’s innovation, Vatican City’s preservation

NTT DATA and the Vatican’s partnership is focused on ensuring humanity’s stories endure, with digital heritage connecting past, present and future.

This longstanding collaboration between NTT DATA and the Vatican demonstrates how technology can advance cultural and social value. From the preservation of ancient manuscripts to immersive digital experiences, we are working to ensure that the world’s memory remains alive and is accessible to all while being protected for generations to come.

By combining innovation with preservation, this partnership has created a model for how digital transformation can protect humanity’s collective memory while opening new opportunities for education, research and inspiration.

• Expo 2025
• Partnerships
• Research & Development (R&D)

Osaka Expo 2025 brought the world to Japan where more than 150 countries and companies came together to showcase their innovations for a more sustainable people and planet. The Panasonic Group Pavilion, named “The Land of NOMO,” was designed to be sustainable and then ultimately dismantled, with 99 percent of the materials circulated back into society when the six-month Expo closed in October.

This sustainable approach extended to those beautiful LED lights, powered by hydrogen energy produced, stored and transported on the Expo site. Together, NTT Anode Energy and Panasonic demonstrated the hydrogen supply chain model at the Expo, showcasing the use of renewable energy to help achieve carbon neutrality – and connect the present to the future of energy.

A supply chain to achieve carbon neutrality

NTT Anode Energy was established in 2019 as part of NTT Group, which has an environmental energy vision entitled “NTT Green Innovation toward 2040.” NTT Group is deeply committed to the reduction of emissions worldwide through green hydrogen, including helping Japan meet its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Since hydrogen is a next-generation clean energy source that does not emit carbon dioxide, its demand will grow in the near future to achieve a carbon-neutral society. While renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are on the rise, the potential of hydrogen energy is less commonly understood. For example, hydrogen is storable and transformable so it will be critical for augmenting wind and solar when they cannot provide enough energy due to uncooperative weather.  

Since an energy source such as solar can be converted to hydrogen, it can be stored if there’s a surplus. That means surplus solar electricity produced in the summer when the sun is hot and bright, can be used in winter, shifting energy use across seasons. This is known as “shifting time” in energy use.

Another benefit of hydrogen energy is “shifting locations.” Currently, power grids don’t have the capacity to connect renewable energy production areas to large-scale consumption areas, such as cities. Hydrogen, however, overcomes this issue since it can be transported by trailers or pipelines, not using the existing power grid, making it possible to deliver renewable energy great distances into urban regions, or into remote areas where the power grid doesn’t reach.

Moreover, the applications of hydrogen energy are unlimited, which is critical at a time when energy consumption has never been greater and is expected to grow exponentially with the demands of computing in the age of Artificial Intelligence. Industry research shows that AI is poised to drive a 160 percent increase in power demand by 2030, according to Goldman Sachs. In October 2025, NTT DATA issued a white paper that concluded AI’s growing demand for resources is unsustainable unless lifecycle thinking and circular-economy principles are applied.

So, to meet increased demand for hydrogen energy in the future, NTT Anode Energy is working with companies such as the Panasonic Group. Together we are developing a hydrogen supply chain that produces, stores, transports, and uses hydrogen. This supply chain needs to be designed for safety, to stably transport large volumes of hydrogen and to create electricity in each region and field of use, so that it can be available to everyone globally in the future.

Expo 2025 visitors see the future of hydrogen energy in action

Osaka Expo 2025 provided the opportunity for NTT Anode Energy and Panasonic to better educate the 25 million Expo visitors about the real-world potential of hydrogen energy. Together, the two companies brought the hydrogen supply chain model to life in a way people could experience first-hand, learning how it worked and understanding the potential to change the world.
 
For this demonstration, NTT installed a renewable energy power plant on site at its Expo 2025 pavilion that produced hydrogen energy. The energy was then stored in a hydrogen fuel cell made by Panasonic. A pipeline was run underground for 200 meters from the NTT pavilion to the Panasonic Group pavilion, allowing the energy to be transported to another fuel cell at the Panasonic Group pavilion.

NTT Anode Energy exemplified its expertise in energy creation and distribution for the demonstration at the NTT Pavilion – critical parts of the hydrogen supply chain. Panasonic also demonstrated the storage and use of hydrogen energy at both the NTT and Panasonic Expo 2025 Pavilions – such as the spectacular LED illumination that helped tell the supply chain story to visitors in a beautiful and compelling way.

This installation was a first of its kind, as it showed what an in-house hydrogen plant in an urban setting could do for the future of powering cities, in a safe and thoughtful manner.

The Expo partnership between NTT Anode Energy and Panasonic is one example of how hydrogen energy could become a reality and implemented in Japan.

Green energy projects in action

The future of hydrogen energy is a primary focus for NTT and Panasonic, and each company is taking important steps toward carbon neutrality.

For example, Panasonic is independently developing “Panasonic HX,” the hydrogen-based energy solution focused on the future of energy management systems (EMS). EMS are decentralized and efficient energy solutions aiming to create decarbonized and resilient facilities. Some of the Panasonic’s projects include:

Realizing a decarbonized society

The demonstration of the hydrogen energy supply chain at Osaka Expo 2025 put the spotlight on the future of clean power. At NTT Anode Energy, it’s a future being both designed and realized today, playing a critical role in the targets set by governments around the world to create a carbon-neutral society.

• Expo 2025
• Partnerships
• Renewable energy

Enabling human connection has long been one of NTT’s primary contributions to society. Over more than a century we have driven the progress of communications. This included establishing Japan’s nation-wide telephone infrastructure, enabling instant communication between people living far apart. Now, together with our partners, we are developing technological innovations that will allow people to experience human senses remotely, finding true sensory connection even from a vast distance.

At Osaka Expo 2025, the world exposition held in Japan from April to October 2025, NTT showed how we are shaping the future of communications technology that expands the ability to hear, watch, touch, smell, and taste, at great distances and remotely. And we also demonstrated how the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN), will power this richly connected future.

IOWN, which includes an all-photonics network, is a concept and initiative aimed at realizing a world of well-being in which everyone can live smarter in their way, based on next-generation information and communications infrastructure centered on optical technology.

Future of the sense of sight

Back in 1970, at Japan World Exposition in Osaka, NTT showcased innovations that marked the future of communications, including a wireless telephone. At Osaka Expo 2025, we used real-time 3D transmission to make it possible for visitors to experience the excitement of that time all over again.

Osaka is now home to the Expo’70 Commemorative Park, located on the grounds where the Japan World Exposition was held in 1970. The park includes the Tower of the Sun, which was left in the park in memory of that Expo. We used spatial transfer technology running over IOWN so visitors could see the Tower of the Sun live in 3D, with no lag, 40 kilometers away at Expo 2025. By bringing remote locations and spaces together, we made it possible to share an environment beyond physical distance and to bridge 55 years of innovation.

IOWN technology, which uses photonics, is the key to this connection because it provides ultra-fast, ultra low-latency networking, communication at the speed of light.

Future of the senses of touch and hearing

Imagine being able to say hello and hug a friend who is miles away. Or reach out and touch your grandchild on the other side of the world, while also hearing their voice. At Osaka Expo 2025, we shared examples of how this rich remote human connection will one day be possible via an ultra-low latency, ultra-high speed, photonics-based IOWN infrastructure.

One of these examples is called Fure-au Denwa, which was showcased in two exhibits: High Five With Fure-au Denwa and Life With Fure-au Denwa, both of which extended communication beyond video and audio to include tactile sensations. Fure-au Denwa is a Japanese term which, loosely translated, means interactive, tactile communication over a telephone.

 Another example was Remotouch, displayed in partnership with Toyota Boshoku Corporation, and connecting the NTT Pavilion with Quintbridge, a laboratory for social change located 20 kilometers away from the Expo 2025 site. A remote touch therapy experience, Remotouch allowed visitors to feel the hands of a friend, family member or therapist, along with hearing their voice and seeing their facial expressions, even though they weren’t in the same location.

The demo worked like this: A person would sit in a specially designed seat, wearing a haptic device that rested gently on their shoulders. Another person, located elsewhere, would softly touch a lever with their hands. The tactile information, facial expressions and voice of the remote user would be transmitted via an IOWN network to the haptic device, which used actuators to generate pressure and recreate the exact sensations applied to the lever by the remote user. It offered a seamless and immersive experience despite the physical distance, making participants feel as though they were being touched by real human hands.

As a developer from Toyota Boshoku said, “The comfort of touch, which cannot be conveyed by voice or images alone, is essential for the connection between people. Also, I think the emotional connection that comes from touching each other is very important. I believe that Remotouch is one of the technology outcomes that allows us to move beyond physical distance to emotional distance by delivering that warmth to people who are far away.”

IOWN is critical to all these examples because any lag in the network makes the feeling of touch seem unnatural, and IOWN makes it possible to convey the delicacy and strength of true human touch.

Future of the senses of smell and taste

You might see a scene of beautiful cherry blossoms or a stunning rose garden. But without the ability to smell those flowers, you don’t really get a full sensory experience. So Koumi Hakkou Corp. and NTT DATA have come together to create a device that reproduces different scents, making it possible to add the sense of smell to a digital video or image.

At Osaka Expo 2025 we demonstrated how, with a touch of a button, it will be possible to recreate a range of different scents from just five original ingredients, and those scents can be smelled and shared across locations using IOWN connections.

This technology can digitally capture and recreate scents by analyzing how people perceive different smells and recording them as data. For example, it can reproduce the scent of a rose, which naturally contains over 50 molecules, using only four synthetic molecules that aren’t found in the original flower. Using this data, the system can transmit scent information to a special diffuser that releases the recreated smell. This innovation makes it possible to share and experience scents in digital spaces like games, the metaverse, or advertising, and it also offers new ways to preserve and reproduce fragrances for many industries.

This also has an impact on the sense of taste, since humans don’t taste food with just our tongues. Much of what we think of as flavor actually comes from our sense of smell. When aromas travel through the nose to the brain, they blend with taste signals to create the full experience of sweetness, bitterness, and everything in between. Koumi Hakkou Corp. is creating scents to supplement the flavor of foods for people with dietary restrictions. While this wasn’t demonstrated at Osaka Expo 2025, it is another example of the future of human senses.

Extending the human sensory experience

The future of human connection is about bringing people closer when distance keeps them apart. By combining science, creativity and care, we can help people see, touch and even smell no matter where they are.

Connection means the warmth of being understood and the comfort of being together. As we design the future of human senses, and build a better future for today’s children, we want to make “being there” possible for everyone, everywhere. And we will do it using the power of NTT’s IOWN, making this connected future possible.

• Expo 2025
• Infrastructure
• Partnerships
• Photonics
• Social Sustainability