Daiwa LifeNext Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Junko Ishizaki; hereinafter “Daiwa LifeNext”), which is a part of the Daiwa House Group, and Rikei Corporation (headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Satoru Isaka; hereinafter “Rikei”) are pleased to announce that they have jointly developed a VR (virtual reality) Fire Drill(*1) service (hereinafter, the “Service”) for condominium residents and began providing it to condominium management associations (*2) which entrust management to Daiwa LifeNext in November 2021. The Service is an achievement of the joint research & development of next-generation condominium disaster preparedness content being conducted by a three-party alliance that includes Yokohama City.

Details of the Service are available at:
https://www.daiwalifenext.co.jp/management/vr_firedrill.html

Three features

1. Residents can participate in the drill anytime, anywhere, and as many times as they want.
The fire drill can be conducted by having residents watch a VR video on the internet using their smartphones or other devices at their own convenience, thereby the participation rate can improve.
Also, they can watch it as many times as they like during the period, and everyone in the household can participate at their own timing.

2. The content of the drill is consistent with the Fire Service Act.
The drill can be conducted by using a VR video created under the supervision of the Yokohama City Fire Bureau. The content of the video is about the drills for fire extinguishing training evacuation training, and reporting training which stipulated by the Fire Service Act.

Note: Please check fire drill notifications with the fire department that has jurisdiction over your area.

3. Reducing the burden on condominium management associations
The content also encompasses a series of necessary tasks, including the provision of information to residents, counting the number of participants and the questionnaire after the drill, providing the management association with a seamless way to check the status of the implementation of a drill.

Background to the offering

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more residents hesitate to participate in conventional condominium fire drills which were held by gathering participants in one location.
For example, the number of participants in evacuation drills in 2020, according to the notifications from residents’ associations, neighborhood associations, and similar organizations in Yokohama City, decreased 60% from the previous year (source: Yokohama City Fire Bureau 2020 annual report).

Even before the pandemic, many people could not participate in fire drills due to time constraints or family circumstances. As a result, the improvement of disaster preparedness knowledge and the percent of condominium residents participating in fire drills was a major issue faced by condominium management associations. A solution to this issue, the VR Fire Drill does not require a large number of people to gather in one place, which involves the risk of infection, and without the constraints, it enables more people to feel free to participate in fire drills.

＜Quoted from the statistical data published in Yokohama City’s annual report＞

Effects of the introduction

• The VR Fire Drill was conducted experimentally at a condominium in Yokohama City, and the participation rate was five times higher than the previous fire drills conducted by gathering participants in one place.
• People who actually participated in VR Fire Drill supplied the following comments.
  ●It was convenient because I can watch the video whenever I wanted.
  ●I felt it was a very good new initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  ●The number of fire drill participants is limited in case it is held by gathering them in one place because the time and date are fixed. However, the VR Fire Drill is expected to increase the number of participants, so I felt it is effective for improving the disaster preparedness knowledge of the entire condominium management association.

The Service is one of the「manbow(*3)」brand, disaster preparedness services from Daiwa LifeNext.Combined with other services such as the “Only One Disaster Prevention Manual Production Service”, the Service enables the more effective improvement of the disaster preparedness capabilities of entire condominium residents and their ability to help themselves.

Details of the Only One Disaster Prevention Manual Production Service：
https://www.daiwalifenext.co.jp/management/manbow.html

News release related to 「manbow」：
https://www.daiwalifenext.co.jp/contents_data/news/162/pdf1.pdf

*1･3：Trademarks are pending for VR Fire Drill and manbow.
*2：At the time of the start of the service, initial targets are condominium management associations entrusting management to Daiwa LifeNext, but the plan is to offer the Service widely to other customers in the future.

About Daiwa LifeNext Co., Ltd.

Daiwa LifeNext Co., Ltd. delivers building management services for condominiums, rental condominiums, buildings and commercial facilities, hotel management services, corporate services such as office relocation support and call center operation, and services providing enhanced security and comfort based on future standards, including elderly care services.

About Rikei Corporation

Since its establishment in 1957 as a solution vendor in the IT and electronics industries, Rikei Corporation has provided a variety of solutions ranging from systems to networks, VR/AR contents, electronic materials and electronic devices.

Rikei proposes solutions that utilize cutting-edge technologies and advanced products from Japan and overseas, and contributes to business development such as improving efficiency of operations and profits of customers.

*Product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.