Omohibito Launches Toyota Foundation-Backed Study on Hybrid AI and Human Support for Loneliness and Social Isolation

Omohibito Inc. announced that its joint research project, “Empirical Research on Design Principles and Institutional Implications of Hybrid Loneliness and Social Isolation Measures Based on Advanced AI Consultation,” has been selected under the Toyota Foundation’s 2025 special theme, “New Human Society Co-created with Advanced Technologies.” The three-year project began on May 1, 2026 and will run until April 30, 2029, with a grant of 8 million yen. The study focuses on residents in welfare-related areas such as caregiving, disability, and healthcare who face loneliness, isolation, and complex difficulties because they are not connected to necessary public systems and support. It will examine how effectively a hybrid support model, combining AI-based comprehensive identification and presentation of available programs with human accompaniment, can improve residents’ connection to public systems. The research will neutrally compare the effectiveness and limitations of three support channels: AI consultation, human-operated SNS consultation, and existing public service counters. It will propose design principles for consultation DX in local government, especially the division of roles between AI and human supporters, and will address normative and institutional issues such as residents’ self-determination, ambiguity of administrative responsibility, fairness, and reliability. Findings will be shared publicly as policy recommendations, municipal guidelines, and academic outputs. Omohibito CEO Moe Kaneko has cared for her father, who has early-onset Lewy body dementia with Parkinsonian symptoms, together with her mother since she was 17. As a former young carer and current double carer, she has spent 14 years navigating multiple administrative systems and has directly experienced the structural problem that “systems exist, but do not reach the people who need them.” In fiscal 2025, Omohibito was selected for Sakai City’s public-private partnership demonstration project on loneliness and social isolation. Together with Sakai City and Empathy4u, the company tested a multi-channel consultation support platform using a LINE official account as the entry point, AI-based service counter guidance, welfare-specialized AI consultation, and human consultation by welfare specialists. The new study will build on those findings with more rigorous scientific methods and comparative verification across multiple municipalities. The study will address four main questions: how accurately and comprehensively AI can identify available systems for individual residents; where people drop out in the process from learning about a system to understanding eligibility, reaching a service counter, and actually using the system; how effectiveness and interface requirements differ between user types such as family carers and professional supporters; and what normative and institutional implications arise from automating administrative consultation with AI. A key feature of the research is its dual analysis of data from both residents and support providers. Resident-side data will cover usage and connection patterns across AI consultation, human consultation, and service guidance. Supporter-side data will include difficult cases handled by community comprehensive support centers and similar organizations. By comparing both sides, the study aims to visualize where “unconnected-to-system” situations occur and what interventions can resolve them. The grant will not be used to develop or sell Omohibito’s commercial services. The research will analyze only anonymized aggregate data and return its findings broadly to society. Founded in June 2022, Omohibito is a startup in the caregiving, medical, and welfare fields. Its vision is to build a society where people can love a life that includes care, using AI and field knowledge to support families, care sites, municipalities, and companies.