Event Report] "BabyTech® Awards 2024" Award Ceremony, Presentation of Award-Winning Products, and Exhibition of Award-Winning Products were held! What was the grand prize-winning item or service?

The BabyTech® Awards 2024 ceremony was held on November 21, 2024, at the Tokyo Industrial Trade Center Hamamatsucho Pavilion, and this year's event, the sixth of its kind, was extremely exciting with 11 categories and special awards. This article reports on the event, including scenes from the awards ceremony, the services that won the grand prizes, and the joyful voices of the award winners!

Making "baby tech" more accessible and commonplace

The coined term "BabyTech," which is a combination of "baby" and "technology," expresses our desire to "support everyone involved in childcare, including babies themselves, mothers and fathers, nursery staff, doctors, etc., through technology. The term "BabyTech" was coined to express our desire to "support everyone involved in childcare with technology, including babies themselves, moms and dads, childcare professionals, and doctors.

The awards ceremony began with a greeting from Tetsuya Nagata, representative of Papa Smile Co. Mr. Nagata said that he hopes that by incorporating technology into the difficult period of child-rearing from pregnancy to the start of elementary school, and by delegating the part that can be delegated, the busy fathers and mothers will be able to reduce their workload, and the time they have left will lead to the healthy growth and nurturing of their children.

The concept of baby tech itself began in the U.S. in 2016, but today many excellent products and services are being created in Japan as well.

We hope to contribute to the future of children and their parents by transmitting this from Japan to the world, and we are preparing to participate in the world's largest technology trade show, CES, to be held in Las Vegas in 2026, so that everyone can see BabyTech in Japan. Thank you for your continued support of BabyTech!"

The next speaker was Yuichi Takayama, General Manager of the Alliance Promotion Department at Akachan Honpo Co.

Ltd., a long-time sponsor of the BabyTech® Awards, has been involved in child-rearing since its establishment in 1932, and Ms. Takayama says that there are still many issues surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing, and that society as a whole needs to support these issues.

I am convinced that by incorporating the new technology of BabyTech into child-rearing, parents will feel more relaxed and have more time to enjoy their child-rearing experience. I hope that through initiatives such as this one, the significance of BabyTech will be widely recognized.

The following is a list of services that received the grand prize and the winners' comments of joy!

Here is a report on today's main event, the BabyTech® Awards 2024 Grand Prize Giving Ceremony. The BabyTech® Awards 20243 are divided into categories and selections are made for each category. Let's take a look at the comments of the winners of each category who won the grand prize after winning the rigorous selection process, along with their services and products!

Just set water and powdered milk and press a button. The "milkmagic" automatic milk maker is a revolutionary product that is compatible with all powdered milk in Japan and can easily prepare milk at the touch of a button. Another attractive point is that the volume can be adjusted from 30mL to 240mL (in 10mL increments) and the temperature from 35°C to 70°C (in 5°C increments) based on the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's guidelines.

Thank you very much for the valuable award! Please come visit us at our exhibition booth."

The paper toys in the application are not just playthings, but were provided with the support of many companies, public organizations, museums, and zoos. It is thanks to all of you who have helped make this initiative possible. We would like to express our sincere appreciation. In the future, we would like to collaborate with even more organizations and companies to expand this activity around the world! Thank you very much for your cooperation today."

The "Infant Body Movement Sensor Baby Alarm E-202" received the same award in 2023. This is a diaper-mounted body movement sensor for infants. By limiting the functions to monitoring body movement, the product is easy to understand even for those who are not familiar with devices, and is low-priced and easy to introduce as a SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) countermeasure.

We are a company that develops the Baby Smile brand and our main products include an electric nasal aspirator. We are honored to receive this award for the second year in a row and would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone involved. Baby Alarm is an item that notifies you with an alarm when it cannot detect your child's movement.

We hope to alleviate some of the burden on anxious, sleepless parents and caregivers, and we hope to exhibit at CES in 2025 so that even more people can learn about it!"

The shortage of pediatricians is a serious problem in some areas. Through online medical services, we are trying to provide an environment where people can feel at ease without having to go to a hospital. We hope that this service will help reduce the daily worries and anxieties of fathers and mothers raising children, and increase opportunities for them to raise their children in a positive and cheerful manner.

Through the "Mimene" brand, we are also developing services to support the child-rearing generation in terms of photo sharing and medical care. The "Mimine Call Doctor" service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is characterized by its ability to provide prompt medical support even when pediatricians are closed, such as during the night or on holidays. We will continue to strive to support everyone's childcare needs, and we look forward to working with you in the future!"

We are very honored that the judges appreciated that "Omoide Bako" is easy to use for the whole family and that both children and adults can enjoy communicating with each other. This summer, we shipped a total of 200,000 Omoide Bako units! We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers for their support. We will continue to strive to deliver even better products while staying close to you!"

Grand Prize in the category of General Parent Support Services (Ms. Ami Nakagawa, Representative Director, Babydoor Inc.)

Share Buggy

This service allows you to go out with your children without bringing a stroller, and you can borrow a stroller anywhere and return it anywhere (multilingual support). Use a baby carrier when you get on the train, and use ShareBuggy after you get off the train to fully enjoy your outing with your child!

The "ShareBuggy" stroller sharing service is currently being installed and introduced at train stations, hotels, commercial facilities, etc., mainly in Tokyo. We plan to expand the service to other parts of Japan in the future to make it available to as many people as possible. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us!"

Thank you very much for the wonderful award you have given us this year, the Grand Prize, following last year's Award of Excellence! Mamit is a school where students can learn web production, design, and programming while actually working on client work and earning rewards. Motivated mothers gather together and hone their skills through friendly competition. We will continue to do our best to support more women so that they can create their own unique careers. We look forward to your continued support!"

We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for this wonderful award. Our services support new operations in daycare centers and various other facilities, especially in situations where cash payments are burdensome, and we aim to solve these problems through the power of technology. Thank you so much!"

Grand Prize in the category of Childcare ICT and Accident Prevention in Childcare (Mr. Toshiyuki Ozeki, Representative Director, Likenalysis Corporation)

AI Noon Sleep Monitoring Service hana-an

An AI-based noon-sleep monitoring service for daycare centers developed in collaboration with RIKEN. The service detects up to 12 children at the same time, starts monitoring at the touch of a button, and automates a number of tasks.

I feel very honored to receive this award. We have been conducting research on baby safety with RIKEN for many years. We would like to take this opportunity to further promote both ensuring the safety of babies and reducing the workload of childcare workers. Your continued support would be greatly appreciated."

Grand Prize in the category of Home Appliances for Child Care and Housework (Mr. Lai-Masa Yamamoto, Sales Manager of Semiconductor Components Ceramic Materials No.3, Semiconductor Components Ceramic Materials Division, Kyocera Corporation)

CERAPHIC desk light.

Equipped with light equivalent to sunlight, this light is gentle on the eyes with no blue light spikes. This item is ideal for studying, reading, drawing, etc. and does not cause fatigue even after prolonged use.

One of the most distinctive features of the CERAPHIC desk light is that it uses LEDs that emit purple light. To avoid the strain on the eyes caused by blue light spikes that common blue LEDs have, purple ones are used to achieve a light that is gentle to both people and living creatures in general."

The final award was the "Akachan Honpo Award," which was chosen by a vote of approximately 1,100 people, including staff who actually interact with customers at the stores of the sponsor of the BabyTech® Awards, Akachan Honpo Co.

Akachanhonpo Award, Grand Prize in the category of "Akachanhonpo Award" (Mr. Tatsuya Siman, Representative Employee, ROUNDS, LLC)

Smartru" automatic open/close wet tissue case

A sensor reacts when you hold your hand over it, and the lid automatically opens. The double packing protects the sheets from drying out, and the lid opens and closes quietly. The double packing protects the sheet from drying and the lid is quiet when opened and closed!

Thank you very much for this wonderful award! I myself am raising a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and while I feel the joy of raising a child, I also realize the difficulty of the small stresses that can accumulate. I developed "Smartru" with the hope of alleviating a little stress for parents in everyday situations such as wiping a baby's bottom or wiping hands and mouth. I would be happy if this product reaches as many people as possible and eases the burden of childcare.

At the end of the ceremony, there was a video message to the award winners and participants from one of the judges, Mr. Katsuya Kurosakata, President of Kuwadate Corporation, who is currently active in the U.S. and a specially appointed associate professor at Keio University's Graduate School of Media and Governance.

The award-winning entries this year were filled with ideas that develop children's free thinking and enhance parent-child time. I am also impressed by the tools that have evolved over the years to support safety measures and watch over children.

In the future, I would like to see these technologies and services become a natural part of our daily lives and create a society in which everyone can enjoy an affluent lifestyle. Congratulations again to all of the award winners!"

The booths where visitors could actually experience BabyTech's products and services were also very popular!

The venue was crowded with booths where visitors could actually experience the award-winning services. The high level of interest in BabyTech was evident!

The presenters introduced in detail, with demonstrations, products that are usually only sold on the web and are rarely seen in person. Many participants were curious to take the products in their hands and carefully check their performance.

The award ceremony was followed by presentations by the grand prize winners. The enthusiasm of each presenter was palpable, and the venue was filled with energy.

The award ceremony for the BabyTech® Awards 2024 ended with a great success. Once again, a number of innovative services were introduced, and the event was full of new possibilities to support childcare. If there is an item or service that interests you, please check it out.

Here are the services that won the grand prize!