Exploring Co-Creation Opportunities in Tokyo: YOXO FESTIVAL 2026 and SHIBUYA QWS
At Yamaha, we engage in co-creation with external partners as a means of creating new value. Through collaboration, we gain new perspectives on our technologies and explore possibilities that emerge when different ideas and expertise come together.
This report highlights Yamaha’s participation in YOXO FESTIVAL 2026 as part of these efforts and introduces examples of initiatives undertaken at SHIBUYA QWS, a co-creation facility.
Exhibiting at YOXO FESTIVAL 2026
Showcasing Yamaha’s Core Technologies and Latest Concepts
Yamaha hosted an interactive technology exhibition, “Yamaha Tech Showcase in Yokohama,” at YOXO FESTIVAL 2026, held on January 30 and February 1, 2026. Organized by the Yokohama Future Organization, the event gave visitors the opportunity to see, touch, and experience cutting-edge technologies and ideas firsthand.
The exhibition aimed to give a wide range of visitors hands-on access to Yamaha’s latest technologies and, through direct dialogue, identify new opportunities for practical value creation.
YOXO FESTIVAL Official site:https://yoxo-o.jp/yoxofestival/
Following our participation in 2025, we once again had the opportunity to engage with many members of the public and gain a variety of new insights. Visitors came from a wide range of age groups and backgrounds, and we received valuable feedback, from those who simply enjoyed the technologies to those interested in applying them in real-world settings.
Yamaha will continue sharing its technologies and activities through open forums such as these, gaining insights that cannot be obtained through internal efforts alone, and creating new technologies and value.
For details on each exhibit, please refer to the sections below.
・No Instrument Skills Required! Play a Session with a Character
・Can’t Play Guitar? No Problem!
Co-Creation Activities at SHIBUYA QWS
Yamaha maintains a base at SHIBUYA QWS (hereafter “QWS”), a co-creation facility where we explore and put into practice collaborations that can generate social value together with a diverse range of companies, local governments, teams, and individuals.
Starting with encounters with a variety of companies and startups, we move quickly through prototyping, proof-of-concept testing, and value validation, then use the insights gained to support commercialization and social implementation.
SHIBUYA QWS Official site:https://shibuya-qws.com/
For details on these activities, please refer to the sections below.
・Case Study 2: Lifestyle Earplugs “Swune” × TRANSPOSE Innovation Challenge
Future Outlook
Through the Yamaha Tech Showcase held in Yokohama and our co-creation initiatives at SHIBUYA QWS, we have been exposed to diverse external perspectives and feedback, gaining both confidence in our efforts and new possibilities for creating value.
In addition to these activities, Yamaha is exploring new possibilities for the future of music through collaborations with universities and companies at MINA Lab (Music Informatics and New Applications Laboratory), located in Yokohama. We also engage in collaborations with artists and partners from a wide range of industries at Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya, our base in Tokyo, where cutting-edge information and trends converge.
Yamaha will continue participating in a variety of events and pursuing activities across our various locations, further expanding opportunities for interaction and co-creation with diverse communities.
Related Information:Research and Development Facilities
Yamaha Tech Showcase Exhibit Details
AI Piano Arranger
We showcased an AI system that combines Yamaha’s Piano Arrangement Music Generation Technology and MIDI-to-Score Conversion Technology to create piano sheet music for favorite songs at preferred difficulty levels.
The AI analyzed audio sources on the spot and generated sheet music ranging from beginner to advanced levels according to each visitor’s preferences. Some visitors enjoyed playing arrangements matched to their skill level, while others challenged themselves with more advanced versions to test their abilities.
Even visitors who could not read music or had no piano experience were able to listen to the generated performances, allowing them to experience the appeal and potential of AI technology firsthand.
No Instrument Skills Required! Play a Session with a Character
We demonstrated a prototype smartphone music application developed using Yamaha’s AI Ensemble Technology, enabling users to enjoy a musical session with a character.
Simply operating a smartphone produces instrumental sounds while the character sings along with the performance. When users follow the rhythm, the character’s facial expressions become brighter, and some visitors became completely absorbed in the experience.
Can’t Play Guitar? No Problem!
Using Yamaha’s TransAcoustic™ Guitar, we demonstrated a guitar experience that allows users to create musical sounds without actually plucking the strings.
Visitors were able to physically experience the resonance and vibration of the guitar—sensations that had traditionally been available only to the player. We received comments such as, “It really feels like I’m playing a guitar,” and “I’d like to try it longer,” and some visitors spent extended periods enjoying the experience.
Wood and Sound
Yamaha conducts research and technology development involving wood from a variety of perspectives for use in the design and development of acoustic instruments such as guitars and pianos.
Because the sound of an acoustic instrument changes depending on the wood used, we exhibited multiple instruments that differed only in the type of wood employed, enabling visitors to experience those differences firsthand. We also introduced Yamaha’s materials technologies, developed through our long history of working with sound.
Many visitors expressed surprise, commenting that they had not realized how much timbre could change simply by changing the wood.
Recording Workshop
Visitors took part in a workshop in which they created sounds using a variety of materials, including instrument woods, recorded them on the spot, and transformed them into their own personalized music.
The goal was to allow anyone to easily experience the enjoyment of creative expression. Participants ranging from children to adults explored different materials by touching and striking them, enjoying the process of creating music in their own way.
Immersive Audio Recording and Listening Experience
We exhibited Yamaha’s immersive audio recording microphone, ViReal® Mic, together with ViReal® for Headphones, an immersive audio technology that enables recorded sound to be experienced through headphones.
Visitors recorded and listened to their own voices in immersive audio and enjoyed a variety of highly realistic content, including orchestral performances and environmental sounds.
Virtual Live Experience
We demonstrated a system that enables users to enjoy virtual live music performances using Yamaha’s headphone-based virtual immersive audio technology, Sound xR Core.
Visitors entered a virtual live venue in a VR environment and experienced a realistic sense of immersion, as if they were physically present at the event. Many commented that they would like to watch concerts this way at home and that the experience felt similar to playing a game.
QWS Activity Case Studies
Case Study 1: Recharge BOX
This project originated from a consultation at QWS with GENERAL Inc. (formerly Fujitsu General) regarding the application of a temperature control method suitable for compact spaces.
By combining Yamaha’s DIY.M soundproof booth with General’s prototype radiant cooling panel, we developed a prototype described as “a box that refreshes your mind in three minutes.”
Through proof-of-concept testing, event exhibitions, and brainwave measurements conducted at QWS, we confirmed the concept’s unique value, including a high level of relaxation within a short period of time and the ability to concentrate on content within a private space.
Case Study 2: Lifestyle Earplugs “Swune” × TRANSPOSE Innovation Challenge
Yamaha connected Swune, a lifestyle earplug product developed by the startup Wakuca, which operates at QWS, with Yamaha’s global business competition, the TRANSPOSE Innovation Challenge (Sound × Place theme).
After the proposal advanced to the second round of screening, Yamaha worked with the organizers to align the vision and value proposition and helped refine the proposal so that its intent could be communicated more effectively.
Although the proposal did not receive an award, the application process enabled the Wakuca team to reaffirm the core concepts behind Swune, including the ideas of “space in sound” and “the value of subtraction.”
In addition, at the subsequent QWS STARTUP AWARD 2026, Yamaha presented the Yamaha Award to Wakuca in recognition of its initiatives in a field related to hearing, a key theme for Yamaha’s future business activities.