Last month we held a succession of important events for Sony, starting with the Corporate Strategy Meeting, and continuing with the Business Segment Meeting and Sony Group Quarterly Meeting. On the 18th I posted a blog about the Corporate Strategy Meeting, which took place that day. Of course, as the third Thursday in May, this day was also the annual "Global Accessibility Awareness Day," a day to think about accessibility. So, today I would like to start my blog by looking at some of our initiatives to improve accessibility.

■ Accessibility
Sony is participating in the "With My Eyes" project launched in 2020 by QD Laser Inc. to help people with low vision* around the world. As part of this project, Sony announced a retinal projection camera kit for the U.S. and Japanese markets in spring of this year, which combines a Sony digital still camera with QD Laser's viewfinder. The "DSC-HX99 RNV kit" utilizes a laser retinal projection method that is less affected by the focusing ability of the eye, enabling low vision users to take photos and videos.

*Low vision: A condition in which a person is visually impaired in a way that impacts their daily life, such as difficulty seeing, brightness, or having difficulty walking due to limited range of vision, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses. The number of those affected is estimated to be up to 2.2 billion worldwide (source: World Health Organization)

It has only been a few months since the kit was launched, but I am very pleased to see it bring the joy of photography and expression to many people with low vision. The photos below are of Caroline Casey, founder of "The Valuable 500" international initiative to promote the success and inclusion of people with disabilities, exploring the kit's capabilities.

Caroline Casey, who has low vision, is also the President of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. Together with Masaaki Oshima, Senior General Manager, Imaging Entertainment Business Division, Sony Corporation.	"This is incredible...it is amazing" was Caroline's reaction. Looking out of the back window, she could see things in the garden behind that she'd never seen before.

・Related articles:
Founder of 'The Valuable 500' excited by the new DSC-HX99 RNV camera kit
A Low-vision User Experiences the Retinal Projection Camera Kit

In addition, our Access controller, the name for which was just recently announced, is a highly customizable accessibility controller kit for PlayStation®5 being developed with the aim of making games accessible and enjoyable for as many people as possible, by allowing players to adjust the layout of the controller to suit their strength, range of motion and physical needs.

The Access controller for PS5 was announced at this year's CES under the code name "Project Leonardo"	A number of interchangeable buttons and analog stick caps are included with the controller, allowing players to freely change the layout

We will officially establish the Accessibility & Inclusion (A&I) Group in the Sustainability Department of Sony headquarters on July 1. The aim of this new group will be to promote accessibility throughout the Sony Group as a part of our sustainability initiatives. As a company whose corporate direction is "getting closer to people," Sony will continue to enhance accessibility and contribute through our businesses to enabling people with diverse needs to share in the Kando of the world.

■ Business Trip to the U.S.
In May, I attended Microsoft's CEO Summit in the U.S., and I also took the opportunity to visit some of our Sony Group companies based on the West Coast. At Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) in Culver City, I toured the facilities newly being constructed and also those undergoing renovations, and participated in management meetings. With its focus on theatrical releases, and standing as an independent studio without its own distribution platform, SPE is successfully differentiating itself from other Hollywood studios, and continuing to maintain stable operations.

Originally constructed in 1938, the Scenic Arts Building is scheduled to reopen later in the year following renovations (click image to view names)		Together with the management team (click image to view names)

At Sony Interactive Entertainment's (SIE) Santa Monica Studio, I had the chance to experience a motion capture demonstration, which reaffirmed to me the importance of a physical connection to reality for realistic expression. I then visited SIE's Naughty Dog studio, also based in Santa Monica. Two of their leading IP, "Uncharted" and "The Last of Us," have also gone on to achieve great success as film and television adaptations. I believe they are symbolic examples of the value creation that is possible through Group collaboration between our pictures, games and music businesses.

Taking part in a demo for Virtual Production on the Motion Capture Stage at Santa Monica Studio (SMS)	With the management team (click image to view names)	Another hit SMS series, "God of War"

Naughty Dog has created many hit titles. The Group synergy created in adapting their game "The Last of Us" for television, among other projects, won the CEO Award for FY22		With the management team (click image to view names)

I heard that during my trip a summit was held between Sony Music Group (SMG) and SPE to deepen collaboration. I am encouraged to see how Sony's diverse businesses are strengthening dialogue toward the creation of new value.

■ Corporate Distinguished Engineer (DE) Appointment Ceremony
Another event where I truly sensed Sony's diversity was the Distinguished Engineer (DE) Appointment Ceremony. DE is a title granted to Sony Group engineers who possess a high degree of expertise and technical insight in a key technical area.
The ceremony was held on May 19 in a hybrid format (at the PORT learning space on the 5F of Sony headquarters and online), and a total of 48 people, including five new appointees, were selected as DEs for this year. The current DEs are highly specialized engineers selected not only from the electronics field, but also from the areas of entertainment and financial services. Diversity of our business and people is the source of value creation at Sony. Let's continue to draw on our diversity as our strength to create and deliver Kando.

Speaking at the Appointment Ceremony. "No Sony business is detached from technology, and I would like DEs to lead this technology."	The five newly appointed DEs (click image to view names)

With all the DEs who participated in the Appointment Ceremony at the PORT learning space on 5F of Sony headquarters. This year's appointees are listed here.

At the reception that night (click image to view names)

As always, I look forward to receiving your thoughts and feedback.