I started a business in Detective Conan Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Future Technology Conference

August 31st.

New Rice Flower Hotel.

Today, the Future Company's conference is being held here.

Representatives from various media in Japan, as well as international media like Global from the United States and BBC from the UK, are present.

Major game companies like EA, Ubisoft, Bandai, and ONY have sent their managers.

Lastly, political figures, business magnates, and especially founders of internet companies, all with keen instincts, are here.

Today's conference will be broadcast live on Japan's largest television station, Niconico, and there is also a live stream on YouTube for international viewers.

The scale of Future Company's product conferences used to be smaller, with most participation happening online.

However, since the involvement of Suzuki Group and Tomizawa Group, more companies have applied to participate, raising the quality of attendees.

Tomizawa Group's third son, Tomizawa Yuzo, is engaged to Sonoko's sister.

It seems Sonoko's knack for connection is at work again.

With more and more companies participating, Future Conference has turned into a major business event. Originally scheduled for one day, it had to be extended by two days due to the current situation.

The conference started at 9 a.m. Keita gave an opening speech and then handed over the stage to others, including some industry leaders.

This afternoon is the main event for Future Company.

1 p.m.

Future Company's product conference officially begins.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Future Group's product conference. I am Keita Yoshida, the President of Future Group."

Keita Yoshida took the stage, exchanged pleasantries, and then began introducing the products.

A laptop was placed on the podium, and the screen was projected onto the backdrop.

"Firstly, our first product is ChatFutura, an intelligent chatbot."

ChatF is an intelligent chatbot derived from the "Future" algorithm, but of course, it wasn't introduced this way.

"This is the first application of artificial intelligence technology from our company's open-source forum 'Future' into the real world."

This is an intelligent robot developed based on extensive training data.

It can perform many tasks, for example, let's take a look at the screen. We'll randomly pick a video from the Niconico website, let's say a smartphone review video. Remember, smartphone manufacturers, make sure to pay up. Next, we enter the URL and say to the chatbot, 'Summarize this video for me.'"

Keita typed the video URL into ChatF's chat box, and after a short wait, a summary appeared on the screen, summarizing the video content, the pros and cons of the phone, and more.

ChatF's language was accurate and concise, just like human speech.

Seeing the summary on the screen, the audience began to whisper.

"But that's not all, for example, type 'I think the specifications in that video are inaccurate, check the official website's specs.'"

After a short wait, the screen displayed the official website's data for the phone.

Seeing this, the whispers from the audience grew louder.

"Yes, that's right. ChatF has context functionality. Whatever you input, he remembers. Technically minded people know what kind of function this is. The more you chat with him, the better he understands you. You can have him plan your schedule, write work summaries, arrange workout plans. He'll become your personal secretary, knowing all your preferences."

"The demonstration ends here. For more specialized questions, let me introduce an expert lecturer to answer your queries."

Keita spoke and then initiated a call with Line, connecting to "Future."

"This is our group's Chief Scientist, 'Future.' Feel free to ask him any questions about ChatF. You can also leave comments on Niconico's live chat, and he might respond. I'll introduce the second product of the conference in an hour."

After Keita finished speaking, he left the stage for Future and went backstage.

The host took the stage, invited media scholars to ask questions, and numerous representatives from internet companies eagerly raised their hands.

Backstage, Ran and Sonoko were getting ready.

Today, they would host the third part of the game presentation.

Ran would dress up as an elf, and Sonoko as a cat demon.

Keita watched from afar, not approaching as he thought Sonoko might get too shy to go on stage if he did.

An hour passed quickly.

Keita returned to the stage, and many hands were still raised.

"Thank you for your enthusiasm. If you have more questions, please look forward to tomorrow's 'Future Forum' meeting. It's an open-source forum focused on using AI for the benefit of humanity, with a variety of underlying AI technologies. Although the forum currently only has one product, with everyone's participation, I believe a diverse range of products will emerge in the near future."

As Keita finished speaking, enthusiastic applause filled the room.

After the applause subsided, Keita proceeded with the second part of the presentation.

"Today, Future Group's second product has already been revealed. Yes, it's the instant messaging and social networking tool you used to communicate with Future earlier, Line."

Keita brought up the computer version of Line.

"In the age of computers, there were numerous social networking tools like MSN and ICQ. However, with the true release of smartphones last year, the future of mobile internet is clear. Therefore, our company introduced Line, an instant messaging and social networking tool that works on both computers and smartphones."

With that, Keita took out his newly purchased smartphone, a Japan ONY model.

He plugged in the data cable, and the smartphone screen was projected onto the backdrop.

"Line has the basic text and image chatting functions of regular instant messaging tools. Additionally, it has voice chat. First, let me find a friend and initiate a voice call."

After three rings, the other person answered.

"Test, test. How's the sound on your end?" Keita asked.

"Clear sound, no delays," the first tester replied, and then continued talking for a minute as planned.

The sound from the smartphone's microphone spread throughout the room, with excellent sound quality and no delay.

"This is our main voice calling feature," Keita hung up.

"Next, we have the voice messaging feature."

Keita recorded a message and sent it to the second tester.

The second tester responded with a voice message as well.

Keita played the message on the phone, and the voice from the phone said, "Received. The wind is really noisy today."

Keita's mischievous sense of humor.

After explaining the specific features, Keita began to tease the audience: "In fact, Line has one more feature, but due to technological limitations, it hasn't been widely adopted yet."

Keita dialed Sonoko's Line number.

After a while, Sonoko finally answered.

"What's up, Keita? I'm in the middle of doing my makeup."

The phone screen was projected onto the backdrop, showing a girl with cat makeup.

"No worries, I'm just testing Line's video calling feature. You can continue with your makeup."

Keita hung up the call. "So, this is the video calling feature. Currently, it can only be used where there's Wi-Fi. The current 3G network can't handle video transmission. According to our company's information, 4G will become more widespread next year. At that time, video calling will be added to Line's features. Stay tuned."

The audience below began discussing animatedly.

"We have ten smartphones with the latest version of Line installed. Feel free to try it out. If you have a smartphone, you can also download the installation package from Line's official website, www.line.jp, for an early experience. After the conference, Line will be available on various app stores."

"Finally, at exactly 3 p.m., we will unveil the highly anticipated game, 'Sword Art Online.'"