February 19, 2021
Pharma Valley Center
Shizuoka Prefecture
Shizuoka Cancer Center
The Pharma Valley Center opens a model room to show their conceptual approach to an idealistic housing for the elderly focused on a theme “the 3-Step-Access Home for an Autonomous Life.”
The Pharma Valley Center is to open their conceptual model room as their first step for projecting “the housing for the elderly in the era with a 100-year-long lifetime” on the 1st floor of their headquarters on March 5, 2021. The model room is designed with a theme “the 3-step-Access Home for an Autonomous Life,” and is scheduled to be open to introduce the basic concepts and the design details that day, when the “Shizuoka Cancer Congress 2020” is opening. It is going to be open for public including all the citizens of Shizuoka prefecture as well as the professionals in health care, caregiving to the elderly and welfare, the public administrational officials, the industries, the researchers and the banking institutions. The purpose for opening it for public is based on their wish to invite all the people to raise better ideas for building ideal homes for the elderly preparing for the super-aging society.
For the members of the press, a sneak preview is being planned as shown in the attached. We are hoping many people to come and participate in the preview.
The Pharma Valley Model Room: the 3-Step-Access Home for an Autonomous Life
1. Purpose of the model room: Offering a good home building for the era with a 100-year-long lifetime requires perceptional changes.
In the era with a 100-year-long lifetime, what should a bedroom for an elderly person whose aging is beyond the healthy life-span be like? This is a question which everyone should ask themselves now. Every housing corporation is already studying about it, and presenting their answers for the question, but many of them seem to be based on the homes for healthy families.
However, aging is a personal issue. A home fitted for an elderly person may not be what is good for a family, but is supposed to be the one exclusively for “me (and my spouse)” which will make it possible to lead an autonomous life as long as “I (we) can.”
Therefore, we have made perceptional changes in home building, and come up with our own idea for a room for an elderly person. It has been embodied by the “Pharma Valley Model Room,” looking 20 years ahead from now. By introducing it, we are hoping to exchange opinions with as many people as possible and to create an idealistic housing for the better future together.
2. Features
⓵ The “3-step-access home for an autonomous life” evolved from what has been experienced at the Shizuoka Cancer Center.
The Pharma Valley Model Room is based on a concept of a hospital room or a hotel room, not of a bedroom in a house, because the basic idea came from what the Shizuoka Cancer Center had gone through for about 20 years supporting the patients and their families.
The basic concept started evolving from a bed. That is where a person sleeps and takes a rest, and eventually ends up spending most of the time in a day. It went on to focus on a toilet and a bath. After all, living an autonomous life means going to the toilet and taking a bath without help, while spending most of a day on the bed. Therefore, it was a basic concept to design a room allocating all those facilities accessed within 3 steps from one another.
“The 3-step access” symbolizes the autonomous life. We believe it will be the basic concept for the life of an elderly person in the coming years. Based on the concept, we designed a room and created a brand-new residential space.
⓶ The room is furnished with the latest equipment available today, which should satisfy the four fundamental features required.
The Pharma Valley Model Room is designed with mostly wood to create a happy and calm atmosphere. The partition between the bedroom and the washroom is an arch in white and the wall in the back of the washroom is in classy pink, all of which make the space look warm and cozy.
Function-wise, it is featured by the 4 key points shown below. The room is not only helpful for physical and mental functions of the elderly person living there, but is also a good sample collection of high-performance equipment.
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<Four Features of the Pharma Valley Model Room> ① Accessible by 3 steps to every housing equipment ② Accommodated for medical and nursing care (including sanitation measures) ③ Employing robotic functions and AI ④ Linked with the family and the society |
⓵ Accessible by 3 steps to every housing equipment
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Room design with 3-step-access |
The bath and the toilet are designed to be located as close to the bed as possible, so that the access to each is made very easy. The bathroom is simple and compact, being equipped with a high-performance shower without a tub. The traffic line is made simple, as the bath, the toilet and the washroom are lined up in a row. |
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Aiding rail on the ceiling |
Aiding rail is equipped on the ceiling so that any functional aids to support an autonomous life, e.g., aiding gear for getting up, can be customized. |
⓶ Accommodated for medical and nursing care (including sanitation measures)
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Floor and wall materials |
New original materials developed in the Pharma Valley Project are used for the floor and the walls. Their antivirus effect has been proven with specific virus. The antibacterial, odor-eliminating, antivirus and anti-allergic effects should help a life of an elderly person living there. |
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nitatiAir cleaning function |
Nanoe® generator for decomposing odor agent and deodorizing is equipped in the room. |
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Clean wash room |
The faucet can be turned on or off without touching it. The same high-performance materials as those for the floor and the walls are used in the washroom as well. The washing stand with a basin is the latest model employing sanitation measures technology. |
③ Employing robotic functions and AI
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Highly-functional bed |
A powered bed is installed. The bed position can be shifted with 4 variations from the flat, sleeping one to the one for sitting up. It is movable with the wheels on the legs, so it can be pushed easily to wherever the person wants it to be in the room, contributing to a functional and variable housing. |
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Highly-functional shower and toilet |
The shower can provide the warm bath effect without getting in a tub. The toilet installed employs the latest technology, with which it is linked with the family’s smart phone to let them monitor the daily frequency of using it. |
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Networking with a smart speaker |
The electric and electronic appliances in the room can be turned on/off by voice by networking with a smart speaker. |
④ Linked with the family and the society
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High-performance display |
A transparent organic electroluminescent display is installed, which looks like a glass-paneled window, but it swiftly turns to a screen. As it is transparent, it still functions as a window to see outside. At the same time, it functions as a window for communication. Conversation via internet with the family and remote consultation with a doctor can be done with it. With this device, the resident can always connect with the family and the society while living in this room. |
3. Visions for the Future
⓵ Laboratory for 20 years ahead from now
The Pharma Valley Model Room is merely a conceptual model and is not a finished product. This is more like a “common laboratory” for creation of ideas and product development foreseeing 20 years ahead involving all the citizens of Shizuoka prefecture, the professionals in health care, caregiving to the elderly and welfare, the public administrational officials, the industries, the researchers and the banking institutions. All the equipment currently installed in the model room is to be updated in a timely manner.
We have prepared our ideas for product development in the coming 20 years. By offering the ideas, we expect you all to discuss with us for going for the best. We would like to continue developing new technologies, new functions and new services together with you all by employing your own ideas.
⓶ Building a consortium
For the Pharma Valley Model Room project, a consortium has been built with the Shizuoka Prefectural Government, the Shizuoka Cancer Center and the Pharma Valley Center as the core members. The other participating members are listed below.
System Environmental Research Institute Co., Ltd.
International Medicine and Health Institute
Medifa Designing Office
Nonscake Co.
arte cite Inc.
Life Solutions Company, Panasonic Corporation
Aica Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Central Uni Co., Ltd.
The consortium participants are being wanted. We would like to ask you for your cooperation and participation for the future development.
Mt. Fuji Foundation for Healthcare Innovation and Cluster Development
Research and Development Management Division,
Economy and Industry Department, Shizuoka Prefecture
Shizuoka Cancer Center
<For more information>
Contact Taki or Ueda at the Pharma Valley Center, the Mt. Fuji Foundation for Healthcare Innovation and Cluster Development
1002-1 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka Pref.
Telephone: 055-980-6333
Facsimile: 055-680-6320
Email: y.taki@fuji-pvc.jp / k.ueda@fuji-pvc.jp
