Mimete" supports the "connection" of families living far away from each other through technology.

Due to the declared state of emergency caused by the spread of the new coronavirus, most of you were unable to return home during Golden Week this year. Many of you may regret that you did not have a chance to meet your grandparents living at home. That is why we would like to recommend the photo-sharing application "Mimete," which we will introduce here. This service, which allows users to share photos via smartphones, PCs, tablets, and other devices, is designed to be easy to use not only for parents but also for grandparents who are not familiar with smartphones, and provides a place for family interaction using photos. The BabyTech.jp editorial staff interviewed Ms. Yuko Shiraiwa (hereafter, honorifics omitted) of the Marketing Group, Mittene Division, mixi, Inc.

Mr. Shiraiwa involved in the development of "Mimene

(We spoke to...)

mixi, Inc.　Marketing G, Mittene Division
Yuko Shiraiwa

Free and unlimited capacity!　Functional "sharing, organizing, storing, and ordering photobooks" of time-consuming photos!

Editorial:Thank you for your time today. Could you begin by giving us an overview of "Mimete" and its features?

Shiraiwa:Mimete" is a service that allows families to share photos and videos of their children. The free and unlimited capacity and the ability to organize photos and videos by month by simply uploading them are also very popular. Many mothers are very busy after giving birth and cannot organize their photos even if they have taken them.

Upload and share as many images and videos as you like.

Editorial:On a personal note, my wife also takes a lot of photos, but they are not organized at all. ......

Shiraiwa:If this is the case, please try "See it" because even if you upload photos taken in the past at a later date, they will be properly organized according to the date and time the photos were taken (laugh). Another popular feature is the "1-second movie" function, which automatically picks up memories from uploaded photos and videos and creates a single movie. This is a movie of one-second memories from each season, which is delivered to free users four times a year.

Images and videos are automatically organized by month

Editorial:I appreciate such a feature because I don't often have a chance to look back at the photos I have taken.

Shiraiwa:Every month, "Mimene" automatically edits the previous month's photos into a photobook format and delivers the edited data free of charge. You can also order a photo book directly from the data. Of course, you can also order a photo book after making minor adjustments such as replacing photos or adding comments. This is popular among those who want to preserve their photos as a form.

Editorial:That's great. So the app automatically identifies and carefully selects photos for you?

Each month, the system automatically proposes a photo book with selected photos.

Shiraiwa:The system automatically evaluates and creates photos based on its own rules, looking at such factors as the date and time the photo was taken and whether or not comments were made. In addition, "Mimene" allows users to mark photos as favorites, and priority is given to "favorite" photos, and image recognition technology is used to select photos that show the child's face properly. In addition to the parents' generation, there are also grandparents who purchase the product.

Editorial:It is nice for seniors not to have to edit every single photo book.

Shiraiwa:The "Mimene" app is easy to use for busy parents and seniors who are unfamiliar with smartphones, and it is possible to "share, organize, save, and order photobooks" of images and videos with a single app. We value the cycle of not only capturing cute moments every day and casually sharing them with family members, but also organizing the memories so that they can be looked back on and enjoyed in a convenient, organized form.

Various innovations for family fun, including "grandparents' generation

Editorial:Can you tell us how this "Mimene" service was developed?

Shiraiwa:The reason why "Mimene" was started was that our chairman, Mr. Kasahara, had a child and started taking a lot of photos and videos. All the services were difficult to operate, especially for the grandparents' generation. From there, we started developing "Mimene" as a photo-sharing application that could be enjoyed not only by moms and dads but also by grandparents and other family members.

Editorial:I downloaded and used "Mimene" before the interview, and found it to be very simple and easy to understand. How did you devise this?

Shiraiwa:When development started in 2014, smartphones had not yet become popular among the grandparents generation, and there were few people who wanted to share photos via apps and few apps to serve as benchmarks. Therefore, the development team had to build "Mimene" from scratch through trial and error. Fortunately, there were many parents on the development team, including Kasahara, who were facing challenges in sharing photos with their grandparents, so we were able to repeat the test within their families.

Pursues ease of use for grandparents who are not accustomed to using smartphones

Editorial:In fact, what was it about it that made it difficult for seniors to use?

Shiraiwa:Many of the grandparents seemed to be buying smartphones for the first time in order to view photos of their grandchildren. This makes "installing an app" a difficult operation, and on top of that, if there is "user registration" when using the app, they may be at their wit's end. Therefore, when parents invite grandparents to the service, the "Mimete" system allows the parents to set the name of the grandparent as "Grandpa" and the grandparent as "Grandma" from the beginning and send the invitation. As long as they support the installation of the application, the grandparents can immediately join the album by simply tapping the link in the invitation message.

Editorial:Is that what the "Invite Family" menu item in "See Me" was for?　I think it's really great that we don't have to set up an email address, set up a password and go through procedures like ...... in order to use the app.

Shiraiwa:Other features include the ability to open the app and see photos and videos of your children, and swiping through them to switch between photos. In consideration of busy moms and dads, we have also taken various measures to reduce the time and effort required for sharing, such as not displaying photos and videos that have already been uploaded on the add screen. In this way, we have thoroughly simplified the operation. Incidentally, "Like" is often compared to social networking services such as Facebook and Instagram, and we sometimes receive comments such as, "Why can't I 'Like' photos? Why can't I 'Like' a photo? However, "See-Ne" is an application for sharing photos and videos with family members, not a tool for satisfying a need for approval by receiving "Likes." Therefore, we intentionally omitted these elements in order to maintain ease of use and simplicity.

Editorial:Yes, it is true that if a "like" is given, "Why don't you give me a 'like'!" I might get into a fight with my parents (laughs).

Photos and videos can be commented on.

Shiraiwa:Although "Likes" cannot be added at this time, comments can be added to photos and videos. This is a great way to leave "family memories" and "the feelings of the family members participating in the album at that time" related to the photo.

Editorial:I remember the old photo albums that came with those notes. That was very helpful when looking back at photos later. ......

Mimene" helps families living far from each other stay connected.

Editorial:You have about 7.5 million users of "Mimete". What are your impressions of the service?

Shiraiwa:Currently, it is also available in multiple languages such as "British English, American English, French, German, Traditional Chinese, and Korean," and the number of users has exceeded 7.5 million. Then, with the new Corona, the data shows that communication (number of posts and comments) within the application has doubled. What strikes me as impressive is that so many people who use the app say they are pleased with the warmth and closeness of their family relationships. For example, they feel as if someone is watching over them even though they are far away, or when they go back home, they usually have to explain what is going on, but thanks to "Mimene" they know what has been going on recently, so the barriers have been broken down. Another pleasant comment was that, although there is generally little interaction between the parents' families, thanks to "Mimene," the distance between the parents' families has been shortened.

Editorial:It is true that there are few opportunities for parents to meet each other. So, through their grandchildren, they can naturally communicate with each other by saying, "Look at me.

Shiraiwa:Yes, I agree. I also realize that as we grow older, we become busier with work and spend less and less time with our own parents. However, when a child is born, I felt that the family reunites, or rather, the family is united again around the child and the relationship becomes stronger. I would be very happy if "Mimene" helps such family communication.

Passed down to the children who will one day become parents, and "See?" becomes the family album?

Editorial:Please tell us about the future development of "Mimene".

Shiraiwa: First of all, the main focus will be on improving the application, but we would like to make the current "Mimene" service, which has a strong image of family sharing of infant growth, into a place where people can look back and preserve memories of their children as they grow up further, so that they can continue to use the service for years to come.

Editorial:How do you envision that application evolving?

Shiraiwa:It is an image of adding new functions and services and upgrading. Recently, we have also made improvements to allow children to have their own accounts so that they can upload their own photos and videos. Most recently, we have also added services that make use of the photos they have taken, such as a service for making "New Year's greeting cards" and a service for sending "Father's and Mother's Day gifts". In the future, we would like to make this service a service that can be used by children even after they become parents, so that memories can be passed on from generation to generation.

After the interview

Due to the spread of the new corona infection, I was also unable to return home as I had planned to do in April. Because of this, I used LINE to share photos with my parents at home, but of course, it is difficult to find those photos even if I wanted to look at them again, and it is also difficult to have a chance to look back at them again. The "Mimine" system has solved the difficult problem of sharing photos with family members who are far away from each other. Moreover, paper albums may be lost due to disasters or moving house, etc., so this system for family members to share images and videos over the Internet will become the standard for family records in the future, don't you think?

On June 3, 2020, the first round of grantees was announced, and organizations that provide support for children and their families who are facing serious challenges due to the spread of the new coronavirus were selected. The first grant recipients were selected for their support activities for children and their families who are facing serious challenges due to the spread of the new coronavirus. The total amount of donations from overseas and this donation is approximately 250 million yen. We will continue to focus on how the company, which considers the future of families from a broad perspective, will develop "Mimine" in the future.

Mitene Official Web Site
https://mitene.us/

About the "Mimete Fund
https://media.mitene.us/archives/1583