Meet Japanese Companies with Quality
Good Things Come to Those Who Eliminate Waiting T&TIS, INC. IP
Website: T&TIS, INC.
Category: IT
SMARTRA technology uses real-world checkpoints to provide real-time data on travel times
What if there were a way to accurately predict travel time in advance, based on real-time data? SMARTRA technology from T&TIS, INC. goes beyond the capabilities of standard electronic timetables to offer accurate, real-world transit data in real time, meaning you may no longer have to resign yourself to long waits during transit.
T&TIS uses information technology to reduce unnecessary waiting time, enabling consumers and businesses alike to benefit from efficient transit. The company’s SMARTRA is a software-based travel time prediction service that relies on checkpoints to gather real-time information about transit times, enabling accurate predictions based on real-world data.
A SMARTRA checkpoint sticker affixed by a shop door allows SMARTRA-enabled smartphones to check in and earn points.
Travel Checkpoints
SMARTRA generates its prediction data by having users “report” real travel times by touching their Near Field Connectivity (NFC)-equipped smartphones to a series of checkpoints, such as when they enter or exit check-in at an airport, or when they enter or exit a security screening. Each touch at a checkpoint gives users points redeemable for coupons or gifts, incentivizing interaction with the system. This real-time data is then used to predict travel times for other travelers on the same route.
A SMARTRA checkpoint sticker installed by the entrance to a café along a popular travel route enables users to check in and earn points while delivering real-time data.
Timely Applications
The SMARTRA application is already free for users to download, and T&TIS President Koichi Yano expects to provide the B2B service freely to businesses as well, using advertising provided through the service to recoup costs.
Beyond travel times, Yano envisions businesses such as retailers, restaurants, hotels and leisure facilities utilizing real-time transit information for more effective customer outreach, enabling them to optimize store staffing and send time-sensitive offers to consumers passing by on their mobile phones.
A Unique Model
“In Japan, our competitors include navigation information providers, but they only offer estimated transit times based on fixed timetables,” Yano explains. “Moreover, walking times are based on calculations of the distance using GPS, and the accuracy of GPS is quite low.” By contrast, Yano says T&TIS is the only company presently offering timetable prediction technology based on real-time data, and has taken out a number of patents in Japan and the U.S. to protect its unique capabilities.
Yano says he is currently focusing on airports in the U.S. and Japan for SMARTRA’s first full-scale launch, but anticipates potential users in a wide range of areas where wait times are involved, including theme parks, hotels, golf courses and the medical field.
Koichi Yano, President of T&TIS, INC.
Yano adds that T&TIS does not merely provide the SMARTRA service, but can also customize the technology for customer needs, and is presently in the process of seeking out licensing agreements, partners and investors. In the long term, he plans to use successes in the Japanese and U.S. markets as a springboard for expansion into Europe, Asia and South America.
Yano’s larger aspiration is to develop SMARTRA beyond travel time prediction, in the hopes of creating what he describes as “solutions that turn inconvenience into convenience.”
Based on interview in October 2016
Website: T&TIS, INC.
