Interview on 123 Factory Blog

[Interview] To Work Is to Learn Something New

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 04:08:04 +0900

Germany has a wide range of basic and applied science research institutes. Among them, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft comprises 74 institutes across Germany and, with some 28,000 employees, is Europe’s largest applied technology research and development organization.

It was first founded in Munich, Germany in 1949, named after the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer, who opened a new chapter in precision scientific instruments.

At its founding it started with 103 employees through the cooperation of the states of Bavaria, Hesse, and Württemberg, and in 1952 the German Federal Ministry of Economics designated the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft — together with the German Research Foundation (DFG, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and the Max Planck Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) — as one of the three major non-university institutions for German research, making it one of the most important research institutes in German applied science.

[Interview] I Want to Work with People Who Look in the Same Direction.

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 03:48:26 +0900

On December 2, 2020, the German government announced its ‘Advanced National AI Strategy,’ signaling its determination to reclaim leadership in AI-related technologies, where it had fallen behind China and the United States. In Germany and across Europe, AI has been singled out as one of the most important technologies of the future, and policy support for it has been generous.

Within Germany, Berlin is the city with the most artificial intelligence startups, emerging as Europe’s hub for new technologies. Here in Berlin is Nota (Nota AI GmbH), an on-device AI startup with the philosophy of ‘making life more convenient and abundant through artificial intelligence.’

[Interview] I Work at Dawn.

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 10:24:46 +0900

The Dawn Hours Essential for Survival

Only around 10 p.m., while putting the children to bed, I always fall asleep right along with them. At 2 a.m., thinking of all the work piled up, my eyes snap open.

Everything around me is silent. My day begins. Sitting with only a small lamp lit on the dining table, focused on my laptop screen, is the one time of day that is entirely my own. Whether I do something useful or something useless, something I want to do or something I must do, that time of quietly doing my own work is the source of strength that sustains the rest of my daily life. If I am too tired and skip it, an inexplicable irritation sits clumped in a corner of my mind all day long. That is why the hours between 2 and 4 a.m. are precious to me. After putting the children to bed, I opened my laptop on the dining table. The lights downstairs were on, too.

[Interview] I Am Working.

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0900

Though Unseen, There Are Hands All Around Us That Care for Us.

The Unseen Hand

Here, in the broad daylight of the city. Behind a child standing as if by their own strength, there is a hand thought to be invisible.

A hand that was born in 1942, before the liberation, as the eldest of ten siblings; that lived through the Korean War in elementary school; that in the 1970s owned a house in Seoul with a wide yard — a hand that, had she simply held on to it, could have gone on to the dream occupation of being a landlord, left the grandchildren to a helper’s care, and enjoyed her old age traveling around. It is the hand of Ms. Song Munja.

[Interview] Zak Jaiathe of Xibit

Mon, 05 Oct 2020 14:38:29 +0200

People I Met at Factory Berlin

Zak Jaiathe of Xibit

If Only I Could Catch a Glimpse from Afar

My interest in virtual reality (VR) began with the thought: “If only I could watch someone I can’t meet in person, even from a distance.” When I first studied theater in Berlin, I learned about the acting theory of Michael Chekhov, a Russian actor. My teacher, describing Chekhov’s performance, spoke of it with such vividness.