April 30, 2026 Grant Decision for Research and Development Projects on New ICT Devices and Services for Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities under the Program for Promoting Research and Development to Bridge the Digital Divide

　The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) hereby announces that it has decided to grant subsidies for FY2026 under the Program for Promoting Research and Development to Bridge the Digital Divide (Subsidy Program for Research and Development in Information and Communications Technology).

1　 Decision on Projects to Receive Subsidies

　With regard to the public invitation for applications for eligible projects (conducted from 2:00 p.m. on Monday, February 2, 2026, to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 27, 2026), 20 applications were submitted. Based on the results of deliberations by experts at the Evaluation Committee for the Program for Promoting Research and Development to Bridge the Digital Divide, MIC decided to grant subsidies to the following six projects.

	Project Title	Applicant Name	Location
1	Research and development of an AI switch application for persons with severe disabilities enabling optimization based on individual data	Waseda University	Tokyo
2	Research and development of an early identification and support provision platform system for students with reading and writing difficulties	Institute of Science Tokyo	Tokyo
3	Research and development of automatic collection of pedestrian spatial data and optimal navigation technology for seamless indoor and outdoor mobility support for persons with visual impairments	Ashirase, Inc.	Tokyo
4	Research and development of a compact, wide field-of-view retinal projection eyewear display for visual support for low-vision users with anterior eye diseases	NTT QONOQ Devices, Inc.	Tokyo
5	Research and development of a real-time automatic text delivery system for radio broadcasts	Yamaha Corporation	Shizuoka Prefecture
6	Research and development of enhanced communication support for persons with hearing impairments through audio emotion visualization technology	FEAT Limited	Tokyo

2　Total Amount of Subsidies Granted

JPY 82,627,000

3　Overview of Eligible Projects

 (1)

Project Title	Research and development of an AI switch application for persons with severe disabilities enabling optimization based on individual data
Applicant Name	Waseda University

【Project Overview】
　This project aims to develop an AI-based switch application for persons with severe disabilities that can detect subtle and slow movements, which are difficult to capture using existing technologies. It is intended to support individuals with severe disabilities, including those who use ventilator masks and those with involuntary movements caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy. The application enables optimization based on individual data and supports the independence and daily activities of these users.

 (2)

Project Title	Research and development of an early identification and support provision platform system for students with reading and writing difficulties
Applicant Name	Institute of Science Tokyo

【Project Overview】
　This project aims to develop a group-based assessment system for the early identification of students with reading and writing difficulties, including developmental dyslexia, and to connect them to appropriate support services. It also proposes the implementation of reading and writing screening in educational settings nationwide. Through these efforts, the project seeks to promote reading accessibility based on the social model of disability and contribute to a barrier-free reading environment.

 (3)

Project Title	Research and development of automatic collection of pedestrian spatial data and optimal navigation technology for seamless indoor and outdoor mobility support for persons with visual impairments
Applicant Name	Ashirase, Inc.

【Project Overview】
　This project aims to develop technologies for the automatic collection of semantic pedestrian spatial data and optimal navigation systems to support seamless indoor and outdoor mobility for persons with visual impairments, wheelchair users, and elderly persons.

 (4)

Project Title	Research and development of a compact, wide field-of-view retinal projection eyewear display for visual support for low-vision users with anterior eye diseases
Applicant Name	NTT QONOQ Devices, Inc.

【Project Overview】
　This project aims to demonstrate a compact, wide field-of-view eyewear display that provides visual support for low-vision users with anterior eye diseases and enables augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) applications.

 (5)

Project Title	Research and development of a real-time automatic text delivery system for radio broadcasts
Applicant Name	Yamaha Corporation

【Project Overview】
　This project aims to develop a system that delivers real-time text of radio broadcast content to smartphones, enabling persons with hearing impairments to access information during both emergencies and normal times. The system will be developed by incorporating feedback from persons with disabilities and experts, and will be validated through demonstration experiments conducted in collaboration with local governments and broadcasters. The project also aims to identify operational challenges and improve the system toward practical implementation.

 (6)

Project Title	Research and development of enhanced communication support for persons with hearing impairments through audio emotion visualization technology
Applicant Name	FEAT Limited

【Project Overview】
　This project aims to enhance communication support for persons with hearing impairments by addressing the difficulty in perceiving emotional information conveyed through speech, such as tone and intonation, which is not captured by existing speech-to-text applications. The project will develop and implement an audio emotion analysis AI function within an existing application to provide real-time emotional information through emojis, colors, vibration, graphs, and numerical indicators. By integrating textual and emotional information, the project seeks to enable richer and more natural communication in a wide range of daily life situations.