INFRA INTELLIGENCE
JPEN
Contact

Care for the infrastructure we rely on,so it lasts.

Infra Intelligence builds tools that help the people who look after infrastructure, so what we already have can stay in use for a long time.

See services

Pooling what we know to keep infrastructure going

Much of Japan's infrastructure is reaching old age at the same time. There are only so many people to look after it, and it can neither all be rebuilt nor all be checked by eye. What we have needs to be maintained and kept in use.

On a white desk, a town map with red marks, photos of potholes and a coffee cup, as if several people had just pooled what they found (illustration)
FIG. 01Road bridges 50 or more years old
Projected share of road bridges 50 or more years old: 37% in March 2023, 54% in March 2030 and 75% in March 2040 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% Half Mar 2023 37% Mar 2030 54% Mar 2040 75%
Projected share of road bridges 2 m or longer that are 50 or more years old (as of March each year). Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Aging of Social Infrastructure

No single organization can perfect damage detection on its own. Field images, detection models and inspection records: when each is shared, a system built in one region can help inspections in another. Infra Intelligence publishes tools and models for exactly that, so the people who keep infrastructure running can fill in for one another.

  1. On a white desk, a town map with marks clustered at one intersection, next to four road photos taken by different people: a pothole, a crack, a chipped gutter cover and a fading crosswalk (illustration)

    Spot it together

    People who use infrastructure every day notice small changes first. One record on the spot captures the photo, location and time, ready for the people in charge.

  2. On a white desk, a gray file, a one-page report with a map and table, three road photos, a ruler and a pen, neatly arranged (illustration)

    Less work for road managers

    Records are gathered on a map in a form that makes inspection and repair decisions easier. Above all, it has to be easy for field staff to keep using.

  3. A large overhead photo of a road on a white desk. A loupe magnifies a fine crack, and other small damage is circled in red (illustration)

    Technology for what the eye misses

    Image recognition covers ground that people alone cannot. People make the decisions; technology gathers what they need to decide.

Line drawing of a Model Lab example. An image taken from a car is resized to 384×384 and fed to the AI model, which returns pothole locations and scores (confidence). Scores of 0.45 or higher count as detections.

Open

Model Lab

AI models that assist road inspection, published under licenses that allow commercial use.

Learn more
Map of Japan showing the finished expressway routes as blue lines with a dot every 10 km

For sale

Kilometer Post Data

The latitude and longitude of every kilometer post on Japan's expressways, as a list. The sample is free; other routes are made to order for a fee.

Learn more
Line drawing of how a model is made. Photos and video from the field are collected, the target objects are boxed (annotation), an AI model is trained, and it detects them in field video.

Commissioned

AI App Development

Phone and web apps with AI models built in.

Learn more

Start small, then go further

  1. 01

    Consultation

    Describe the problem and the data you have. The first consultation is free, and meetings are usually online.

  2. 02

    Small trial

    A limited set of data shows whether the approach fits your goal. You decide whether to continue after seeing the results.

  3. 03

    Development

    Scope and terms are set from the trial results, and development proceeds under a service contract. On-site visits are possible when needed.

  4. 04

    Operation and review

    Maintenance and model retraining can continue as new issues appear in use.

MICHIKARTE

A report from someone who noticed can get a road fixed

Record road damage on your phone and send it to the local government or whoever manages the road. Damage often goes unrepaired simply because the people in charge have not found it yet, and reports from road users shorten that wait. A shared map of potholes and a photo reporting page are live at michikarte.com.

Line drawing of how MICHIKARTE works. A phone mounted in a car spots a pothole ahead, shows Recorded on screen, and saves one row of date, time, latitude and longitude on the device. Only records the user agrees to share are sent. About MICHIKARTE
Features and a sample record
  1. 01

    Snap and send, or just drive

    Take a photo of the damage and send it. Or mount your phone in the car, and the app finds and records potholes as you drive. The location is filled in automatically.

  2. 02

    Easier for road managers to find

    Records gather on one map for the road manager to review. Damage that patrols cannot reach comes to light through residents' reports.

  3. 03

    See it through to the repair

    Once a repair is done, its mark on the map will change, so the person who reported it can see the result. Your reports make your own roads better.

Road damage record No. 0000-00
1 photo
Type
Pothole
Location
Near Main StreetTaken from the phone's location
Recorded
20XX.XX.XX 09:12
Status
UncheckedCheckedRepaired
  1. Record
  2. Check
  3. Repair
  4. Repaired
A sample record. Place names and numbers are placeholders.

Notes on technology and regulations

A straight road through golden grassland on a clear day, with snow-capped mountains in the distance (illustration)

Small and independent, building tools that work in the field

Infra Intelligence builds tools that both users and managers of infrastructure find easy to use, starting small, listening to the field and improving them step by step.

More about Infra Intelligence

Start by describing your situation

Whether it is a MICHIKARTE trial or an AI app, your plans do not need to be final. Describe the photos or video you have and what you are struggling with, and you will get an email reply on what can and cannot be done. The contact form is in Japanese, but you are welcome to write in English.

Get in touch
Contact