Docomo Future Lab Programming Contest Final Judging Session.

Sixteen students—ranging from preschoolers to middle schoolers—who had successfully advanced through three rounds of judging out of 2,056 entries delivered passionate presentations.

The theme of the call for entries is “New Inventions of the Future.”

A distinctive feature of this contest is that “vision for the future” is included among the judging criteria. The emphasis in the evaluation is placed not on technical ability, but on the vision of how participants envision the future.

At the judging session, a series of unique and exciting inventions were presented one after another.

The “Clean-Up Catcher” that tidies up the city, the “Anywhere Shoes” that take you all the way to space, the “Magic Zoo of the Future” that lets you summon any animal you like at any time, the “Onigiri Factory” that not only cooks rice but also automatically adds furikake and shapes it into onigiri,the “IoT Seasoning Level Checker,” which sends a LINE notification when seasoning levels run low; the “Traveling Floating House,” which makes life on the ocean a reality; and many more—every entry was brimming with ideas that promise to make the future brighter and more enjoyable.

The prestigious Grand Prize was awarded to “The Magic Zoo of the Future,” conceived by preschoolers.

When he won the Grand Prize in the Preschoolers’ Division, he reportedly said, “I was so happy I thought my brain was going to explode,” but when the Overall Grand Prize was announced, he reportedly said, “I was so happy I thought the Earth was going to shatter.”

The moment the announcement was made, the sight of them jumping up and down and expressing their joy with their whole bodies was so endearing that the entire venue was filled with warm smiles.

It was a wonderful judging session where we could sense hope for a bright future through inventions full of dreams and creativity.

Congratulations, everyone!

To all the judges, thank you for your hard work!