Bears Selected for R&D Project on Social Implementation of Physical AI for Homes

Bears Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, President: Takeshi Takahashi, hereinafter referred to as Bears), which was founded in October 1999 and is now in its 27th year, has been selected for the "Post-5G Information Communication System Foundation Strengthening R&D Project / R&D for Building Data Ecosystems (GENIAC)" implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). Bears' proposal, "Data Ecosystem of Skilled Staff Behavior in Housekeeping Services," has been adopted.

This project aims to build a foundation (data ecosystem) that can be used for the development of physical AI for homes and life support robots by datafying the behavior, judgment, and consideration of skilled staff cultivated in the field of housekeeping services, through joint research between Bears and the Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory at the University of Tokyo.

Through this initiative, Bears will contribute to the realization of a new living infrastructure that delivers peace of mind and breathing room to more households through the collaboration of people and technology.

*A data ecosystem refers to a virtuous cycle where data from various fields is collected, utilized for AI development and provision, and further data is gathered as the AI becomes widely used.

[Background]

With over 70% of dual-income households and a declining birthrate and aging population, "labor shortages within households" in Japan are becoming increasingly severe. While the demand for housekeeping support continues to expand, there are limits to meeting all needs solely through human services, and new forms of life support through collaboration with technology are expected.

On the other hand, since floor plans, lifestyles, and household issues vary from home to home, "consideration and judgment tailored to each household's situation" are essential for life support AI and robots to be truly useful. Currently, there is no established framework for evaluating housekeeping tasks or providing correct data within households, posing a significant challenge due to the lack of useful model data for robot development.

This project aims to create a new living infrastructure where people and robots collaborate by organizing the "implicit knowledge of daily life" practiced by housekeeping professionals in the field into a format that can be used for learning by physical AI for homes and life support robots.

[Project Overview]

This project will build a data ecosystem for the social implementation of physical AI for homes by combining the field knowledge of housekeeping services accumulated by Bears over 27 years, with 700,000 services provided annually across 12 locations nationwide (one of the largest in Japan), and the AI research expertise of the Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory at the University of Tokyo.

Specifically, large-scale data such as videos, eye movements, audio, and speech will be collected from skilled staff performing housekeeping duties while wearing wearable devices. This will create high-quality first-person data for robots to learn "what to look at, how to judge, and what to do next" – behaviors that are naturally accepted by humans. Concurrently, efforts will be made to establish a data provision platform that can be utilized by AI developers and robot-related businesses.

Bears has spent years building "mechanisms for reproducing quality" and "real-world knowledge within households" through manuals, training, education, evaluation, and on-site operations. The continuous acquisition of professional judgment and responses to changes in daily living environments (high-quality differential data) from highly skilled staff during regular visits to the same households supports the reliability of the "correct data" that AI will learn from.

[Future Outlook]

Through this project, Bears will connect the knowledge and consideration cultivated as housekeeping professionals to future technologies, supporting the spread of life support AI and home robots, and delivering peace of mind and breathing room to more households through the collaboration of people and robots.

The utilization of data from Bears' meticulous consideration and high-quality housekeeping services holds the potential to create new value not only in Japan but also in the global life support domain.

Bears will continue to contribute to the realization of a society where everyone can live a fulfilling life, by combining the warmth of human touch with the power of technology.

[Comment]

Yuki Takahashi, Vice President, Bears Co., Ltd.

Since its founding, Bears has aimed to make housekeeping services a new "living infrastructure" for Japan, addressing various challenges within households.

No two homes are exactly alike. That is precisely why Bears' service staff provide services daily not only with standardized techniques but also by observing customers' lives, understanding the situation, and making appropriate judgments on the spot.

We will connect the field knowledge of housekeeping accumulated by Bears over 27 years and the implicit knowledge of our skilled staff to the development of physical AI and home robots. Through the collaboration of people and robots, we will contribute to the realization of a society where everyone can live with peace of mind and richness of life.

[Adopted Project Overview]

*Project Name: Post-5G Information Communication System Foundation Strengthening R&D Project / R&D for Building Data Ecosystems (GENIAC)

*Adopted Theme: Data Ecosystem of Skilled Staff Behavior in Housekeeping Services

*Implementing Body: Bears Co., Ltd.

*Joint Research: Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory, University of Tokyo

*Project Summary: To build a data ecosystem for the social implementation of life support AI and home robots by organizing the behavior, judgment, and consideration of skilled staff in housekeeping services into data usable for the learning of physical AI for homes.

*METI Public Page: https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2026/07/20260702001/20260702001.html

*NEDO Public Page: https://www.nedo.go.jp/koubo/CD3_100430.html

[Company Overview]

*Name: Bears Co., Ltd.

*Representative: Takeshi Takahashi, President and Representative Director

*Location: 2-1-1 Nihonbashi-Hama-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0007

*Founded: October 1999

*Official Website: https://www.happy-bears.com/

*Business Activities: Housekeeping services, house cleaning, kids & baby sitting services, cooking services, elderly support services, living support services, etc.

Housekeeping Services https://www.happy-bears.com/kaji/

House Cleaning https://www.happy-bears.com/houseclean/

Kids & Baby Sitting Services https://www.happy-bears.com/baby/

Cooking Services https://www.happy-bears.com/cooking/

Elderly Support Services https://www.happy-bears.com/senior/

Living Support Services https://www.happy-bears.com/kurashi/

*Service Areas

(Housekeeping Services, Cooking Services, Elderly Support Services)

Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, Shiga, Aichi, Hokkaido, Fukuoka, Kumamoto

*Excluding some areas

(Kids & Baby Sitting Services)

Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, Aichi, Hokkaido, Fukuoka *Excluding some areas

(House Cleaning Services)

In addition to the above, Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Yamanashi, Nagano, Mie, Shizuoka, Wakayama, Tottori, Shimane, Hiroshima, Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa *Excluding some areas

(Living Support Services)

Available nationwide *Varies by service

[Customer Inquiries]

Inquiry Form: https://www.happy-bears.com/contact

[Media Contact for this Release]

Bears Co., Ltd. Public Relations (Hattori, Aso, Mori) pr@happy-bears.com

Direct Line: 090-6461-8977 (Hattori) / 090-6584-5414 (Aso) / 070-2167-5467 (Mori)